No Need For Heros
by MattDark
Summary: When a temperal rip is created in space and someone is pulled into Tenchi's life, things are bound to get hectic, especially when he has the same gems as Ryoko. Rated T for action and minor sexual referances... Now complete!
1. It all begins here

Matt Ran through the winding corridors of his ship, the Rusmas, searching for the intruders. 

"Elsa! Where are they?" He shouted out, stopping at a crossing point to check the corridors either side of him.  
"I have located them, they are heading towards the living quarters" The ships feminine voice spoke out to him in its dull manner. "May I suggest using the turbo lift on the port side of the ship?"

Considering the choice, Matt looked ahead, seeing the lifts doors a good distance away from him, scratching the back of his head though his damp brown hair, he turned away, heading down a corridor he had passed just a moment ago.

"Are the ventilation shafts clear? I think I could sneak up on them through those." He replied in a heavy accent as he crouched down in front of the maintenance hatch leading to the air ducts.  
"Affirmative, the shafts are currently clear, do you want me to run a maintenance check?", Elsa asked him, not truly understanding Matt's idea.  
"No. Just keep your eye on the intruders, tell me if they move away from the living quarters." with that, Matt opened the hatch, sliding into the small shaft. "When this is all over Elsa remind me to get a better security system."

* * *

Mihoshi and Kiyone were out on another one of their patrols, but unlike their usual scouting missions that involved them making sure there was no one attempting to come into earths area in space, keeping humans safe from the aliens in the universe.

"Kiyone, what are we looking for?" Mihoshi asked curiously, blinking a few times, staring at her partner innocently.  
"For the tenth time, we've been ordered to search for a battle class ship that was sighted heading towards earth" Kiyone sighed as she repeated their orders to her ditzy partner. "Apparently, it's been piloted by a space pirate with a very high bounty on his head. I think his name was Darkfox or something" "Oh, ok then" Mihoshi replied happily, giving one of her light hearted smiles.

A few hours went by slowly, they had circled earth three times now and there had been no sign of any battle ship. Kiyone was getting tired and was about ready to head back home when she saw it. The dust clouds ahead of their ship, all swirling around as electricity seemed to gather them together.

"What is that?" Kiyone muttered to herself. Staring at the thing before her.  
"It looks like a warp hole!" Mihoshi chirped out, oblivious that it may be dangerous.

Yuki-nojo came down from his spot on the ceiling of yagami's cockpit, looking at the two pilots.

"That appears to be a rip in the fabric of space, something has caused it to open up. But if my calculations are correct, it shall close in about 10 earth minutes." He told them, looking at Kiyone as she nodded her understanding of the situation, turning to Mihoshi, he had a different reaction.  
"Miss Mihoshi! Are you even listening?"

Mihoshi looked up at the droid, staring at him intently.

"Who are you again?"

* * *

Carefully opening up the maintenance hatch he had reached, Matt looked along the corridors, finding no-one in the immediate area. Pressing his back against the wall, he pulled out his blaster, checking it was fully charged before holding it in front of him, just in case. Sneaking up the corridor, he peaked round a corner, spotting his targets. Four large creatures, very lizard like were busy trying to break into one of the rest-rooms.

"Damn it! Those thing got my gloves!" He cursed under his breath, eyeing the pair of gloves hanging out the pocket of the smallest intruder, the gems on the palms glowing dimly. Taking careful aim, he pulled the trigger. The burst of energy was too sudden for any of the ships intruders to react, before any of them had seen where the shot had came from, one of the lizard men had already collapsed to the floor lifeless. The small one, who had hold of Matt's gemmed gloves, immediately reached down to his side for his own blaster, firing a few shots back up the narrow passage, forcing Matt to take cover around the corner.

"Blow the ship!", he said, hissing at the bulkier lizards, before firing a few more shots down the corridor. One of the lizards took off a pack it had been carrying, placing it on the ground, pressing a button on it to activate the bombs timer inside. Getting up the thing took hold of another bag, filled with what they had looted and ran down to the turbo-lift.

"This is getting nowhere!" Matt thought as shots ricocheted of the walls. Turning the corner briefly, he fired a few times, causing the small lizard man to duck for cover, giving Matt his chance, running down the corridor, he fired a few more shots at the creature, scoring a direct him to its arm, forcing it to drop its blaster. The two larger men already gone with their haul, leaving the creature defenceless.

"Hand over my gloves, or the last thing you'll be seeing it that timer reaching zero." He said angrily as he pointed the blaster to the lizards head. Not being a betting man, the lizard reached to his pocket, tossing the gemmed gloves to the floor. Kneeling down, Matt put his blaster away before picking up the gloves and putting them on. As he secured them, the gems on the gloves palms began to glow a deep red. Grinning, almost evilly, Matt curled one hand into a fist, an energy beam forming out of nowhere.

"You should be glad I got these back, you would have been here a long time else" Matt said plainly as he brought him arm back, before swinging it hard, beheading the lizard before him. Diminishing the blade, he looked over to the bomb, eyeing it curiously. "Elsa? You know how to deactivate this thing?"

"This device is unregistered on my data files, I am afraid I do not know." The robotic voice hummed out, before considering possibilities. "There is not enough time to remove the bomb, the only option available to you is taking an escape pod."

Matt nodded, before running down the corridor, heading straight to this floors escape pod, seeing it already open, he thanked the computer before getting inside and sealing the pod.

A few minutes after launching itself, Matt watched on as the his ship exploded, but it wasn't as he thought to would be. In moments, the ships hull began to fold in on itself, getting smaller and smaller. The shockwave from the blast had been very small but had knocked out his thrusters system, and had began to pull him in. In a last ditch effort, he fired a few shots from the blaster cannon on the pod, but had little effect.

"Looks like this is the end" He thought aloud, to close to see the rip in space.

* * *

"Something is coming out!" Mihoshi yelled, much to the annoyance of her fellow officer. Yuki-nojo immediately put up an image on screen, showing them a small pod that flew out, heading towards earth.

"It appears to be on a collision course, at its current rate of speed, it will crash-land in the mountains near the Masaki household" The robot stated, another screen coming up on the monitor. "It also appears to have barely made it through the rip, which has now sealed itself.

"Come on, lets get back down there, find out what this is" Kiyone stated, taking the ships controls and plotting a course straight back to Tenchi's home. "I've got a bad feeling about this"

* * *

Authors Notes : This is my first attempt at a fan-fic in a real long time, so my writing may be a little off, but I am trying. Say what you think, and give a little advice if you like.  
Next chapter, our two parties collide and a new adventure begins.


	2. Meeting new faces

Tenchi was out at his grandfathers shrine, busy sweeping the grounds. Stopping to wipe the sweat off his head. Glancing up at the sky, he smiled as the sun shone down on him. The last few days had been surprisingly calm; Ayeka and Sasami were visiting Jurai and would'nt be back for a few days yet. Washu had gone off to a rouge planet to study its inhabitants, dragging Ryoko along with her. 

"Those two could be out there forever, knowing Washu" He chuckled to himself, knowing what the little scientist was like.

It was only Kiyone and Mihoshi who stayed on earth with him, due to their job of watching over the Jurai family, which, at the moment, focused on Tenchi and Yosho.

The moment of peace was short lived as a small object screamed through the skies above him, falling towards his home. He watched on as is disappeared from his view, before hearing a crash.

"Oh no. Not another one" He moaned, fearing that it held another female alien that would be after his affections. Gathering up his courage, he let go of the broom in his hands and began to run down the steps towards his home.

* * *

As Yagami set itself down in the lake, Kiyone and Mihoshi were teleported out onto the boardwalk running over it. Placing a hand over her blaster, Kiyone surveyed the scene.

"Kiyone, I'm scared" Mihoshi said as she peered over the teal-haired woman's shoulder.  
"Quiet Mihoshi!" Kiyone snapped out, before apologising and running towards the house. Peeking round one corner, she saw the fallen pod, resting in a small, smoking crater it had created.

"Mihoshi! Kiyone! What's going on?" Tenchi yelled at them, running over to them in a panicked state. Kiyone pointed to the pod she had her eye on and started to draw near it. Tenchi reached to his side, taking hold of the master key and igniting it.

* * *

Opening his eyes wearily, Matt looked around at his surroundings, the pod was badly damaged and most of the systems were down. Looking at a small monitor on his right, he read it a few times, before blinking.

"How did I get back to earth?" He thought as he looked out one of the small windows, seeing nothing around but trees and the sky. He looked about the pod, seeing he was still wearing his gloves, the gems glowing lightly.

"Elsa? What happened? How did we get back to earth?" He asked, trying to figure all of this out. Hearing no answer, he spoke out again. "Elsa? You there?" Hearing nothing apart from a few wires as they sparked, he closed his eyes, knowing he was alone now.

As he sat there, he heard voices, slowly getting louder. Someone had discovered his pod. He didn't feel too bad, it was probably one of earths rescue groups, come to help him out and salvage parts of the pod that could still be used. He'd be given a new ship and be allowed back out into space in no time.

Pressing a button on the hatch release system, he placed a hand over his eyes as light shone inside of the pod, making it hard for him to see anything, apart from the three figures standing over him.

"He doesn't look dangerous Kiyone" Mihoshi spoke out, as she looked down on the man curiously.  
"He seems to be human" Kiyone replied, putting her gun away.  
"At least it's not another woman" Tenchi said, his voice filled with relief.

They looked down on the man, his dark brown hair was a little damp, his green eyes trying to focus on them. His skin was a little pale, but his clothes were quite defining, they seemed to show he was either an officer like Mihoshi and Kiyone, but its darkness made them think he could possibly be a space pirate. Tenchi noticed the gems embedded into the palms of his gloves, they seemed very much like Ryoko's.

"Well, I guess he just got here by accident or something" Kiyone said to no-one in particular, before noticing the blaster by his side. She reached for her gun and in an instant, had it pointed at the man. "Drop your weapon now!" She shouted.

Matt looked up at the woman, raising his hands slowly. He watched as she aimed her gun at his head.  
"Alright, stay calm" He reached down to his side, grabbing hold of his blaster and tossing it past the GP officer. "There, anything else?"

Kiyone lowered her gun, allowing the man to get up out of the pod and stretch his legs. He walked around a little, surveying his surroundings carefully. Walking back over to the three people, he looked at them curiously.

"So where is the nearest space port?" he asked, receiving a few odd looks from the others.  
"Space port? What are you talking about? You should know that earth doesn't have that kind of technology yet" Kiyone told him, receiving the same odd look she had gave him a moment ago.  
"What? But earth has more then fifty space ports ready to launch and dock ships, and another ten being built!" He retorted, looking up at the sky as he noticed something floating overhead. "And if there's no space ports then why is that ship there?" he asked, pointing up behind the strangers he had met.

"What ship?" Tenchi asked, before turning around to see a very familiar wooden ship floating overhead.  
"Yay! Sasami and Ayeka are back!" Mihoshi yelled. Jumping up and down excitedly, oblivious to the angry glare she was receiving from Kiyone.

* * *

Five people sat in the Masaki households living room. Many questions had gone around, a lot were directed at the stranger who had entered their lives but a mere hour ago.

"So let me get this straight" Tenchi said, looking at Matt steadily. "Your from an Earth where they have succeeded in space travel?" Matt nodded as Tenchi stopped a moment, before Kiyone started speaking.  
"But your not from the future, are you?" She asked, still unsure of all this.  
"That's right miss Kiyone, from what Tenchi said, he would have been born the same year as me." "Then what does this mean Matthew?" Ayeka asked, as formal as ever.  
"I don't know Ayeka. When I got here, I couldn't contact my ships computer, so I'm not sure what happened" the young man replied, his sadness clear in his eyes. He looked down at the ground, placing his hands on his knees.

Tenchi looked at him, focusing at his gemmed gloves, he still wanted to know why he had them. The moment he had seen the gems, he had thought of Ryoko's gems.

"Um, tell me, what's with those glove you wear?" He asked, trying to break the silence.  
"Yes, they do look quite familiar, a lot like those gems Ryoko has" Ayeka added, taking a look at the gems herself.

Matt looked up at them, before looking at his hands, staring at the gems as they glowed dimly. Smirking, he stood up and looked at the people in front of him.

"I'll show you outside, come on" He grinned as he stated to head towards the entrance to the house, all the time wondering why they recognised gems from a parallel world.

* * *

"Ryo-ohki, how much longer until we reach earth?" Ryoko asked, as she floated around the interior of her ship.  
"Mreow, Mya!" one of the crystals answered that she passed by it, Ryoko understood this and floated over to Washu, who was busy typing away at her computer.  
"Mom, why did you bring me along for this, you could of done this all yourself" she asked inquisitively, thinking about how much time she could have had alone with tenchi.  
"Well, I don't think you would anything else besides what your thinking" Washu grinned when she heard Ryoko gulp a little. "Besides, I think Tenchi could do with a little time without all of us, don't you?" "Well I-"

Before Ryoko could reply, a buzzer went off on Washu's computer, forcing her to stop her bit of fun.  
"That odd, I'm picking up an energy reading on earth, right by our home" she spoke out to Ryoko as she typed away to check the readings she was getting.  
"What's so odd about it? Its probably just Tenchi training with the old man" she replied, peering over Washu's shoulder to see what she was looking at.  
"No, the thing is, I'm picking up your energy signatures down there, more precisely, when your ready for a fight" the scientist stated.  
"Wha, What?" Ryoko babbled, as she looked at Washu puzzled.  
"Ryo-ohki! Get moving, we need to get home, now!" Washu shouted out, receiving a loud mew from Ryo-ohki to confirm her order.

Next time, The entire group is reunited, and perhaps now an adventure can unfold?


	3. The duel

Tenchi stood by the lake outside the Masaki home, facing Matt. The girls were all sat on the deck outside the lounge, with the exception of Kiyone, who had declined the strangers offer.

"Ayeka, What do you think he's going to do?" Sasami asked as she looked over at Matt, who seemed a little preoccupied with something.  
"I don't know Sasami, but I have a bad feeling about this" The princess replied, still curious about the gems that were lodged into the boys gloves.

Matt looked at Tenchi calmly, as he brought his hands together.

"So are you ready Tenchi? You don't want to miss this" he said, beginning to frown. Jolting his arms back, his energy beam formed in his hands, glowing its deep red. "What do you think?"  
"But, that's Ryoko's blade, how can you make those appear?" Tenchi asked hastily.  
"Don't worry, I'll answer your questions later, right now I want to duel with you"  
"What? But, with me? Why?"  
"I can feel your power Tenchi, it's been a long time since I felt an aura this strong"

Tenchi looked at him, a little worried, before nodding and reaching for the master key.  
"Hmm?" Tenchi looked down, before patting himself all over. "I don't believe this, just give me a minute!"  
"Alright, be quick" Matt sighed as he watched Tenchi dash into the house. "I don't believe this…"  
"Ahh! Where is it?" Tenchi shouted out from in the house, causing the girls to sigh as well.

Running back out of the house, Tenchi held the master key in his hands, igniting it as he stood in front of Matthew.  
"Ok, now I'm ready!" he grinned, before getting a more serious look of his face.  
"Good, now Tenchi, let the battle begin!" Matt shouted out, before rushing at his opponent, their blades connecting, the energy from them crackling as each boy tried to hold their position.

* * *

"Ryo-Ohki! Hurry up!" Ryoko shouted out from her seat.  
"Ryoko, I'm picking up a second energy reading. It seems that Tenchi is getting ready to fight as well now" Washu said, still typing away at her computer.  
"Damn it, we wont be there in time at this rate!"  
"Meow! Mreow!" Ryo-ohki cried out, trying to tell them that she was going as fast as she could.  
"Your right Ryoko, we may be a little late to stop this, the two energy reading have collided, Tenchi is already fighting whatever this is"  
"Lets just hope we can get there in time to make sure Tenchi's ok…" Ryoko murmured to herself, obviously worried about the boy she cared for so much.

* * *

Tenchi had managed to force Matt away from him, giving himself a few moments to catch his breath, just from that single clash, he could see that his opponent had a lot of force behind his attacks.  
Matt was surprised himself, he could see there was something about this boy, yet he couldn't be exactly sure on what it is.

"Well Tenchi, your quite skilled, I'll give you that, but I'm only getting warmed up"  
"Your not so bad yourself Matthew, but you wont beat me"

With that, the two rushed at each other again, their blades clashing again, the energy crackling off them with more force then before. Grinning, Matthew let himself get pushed back, allowing him to drop to the floor, flipping Tenchi up into the air with his feet at the same time.

"He is quite good, but he's isn't as good as lord Tenchi" Ayeka said to no-one in particular, catching Mihoshi's attention.  
"I don't know, they seem evenly matched at the moment Ayeka" she replied, watching as Tenchi was flipped into the air, only to roll on the ground back onto his feet.  
"That was cool!" she piped up, before cheering Tenchi on.

As Tenchi regained his footing, he turned to face Matt as he quickly rose back to his feet. Rushing at Tenchi, he swung his blade at the boy with all his might. Barely rising his own sword to block the blade, he nearly didn't see Matt's fist coming at his face.  
Leaning back to dodge the fist, Tenchi saw his opponents gaze following his own fist, rather then keeping his view on Tenchi. Taking this opportunity, he let the power on the master key disperse, before bringing the edge of the handle to Matthews throat.

"What the hell?" Matthew choked, seeing the weapon being held right in front of his neck.  
"I guess I won that one huh?" Tenchi said, grinning before moving the master key away from the other boy, placing it in one of his belt buckles.

"Way to go Tenchi!" the girls cheered, as Matthew took a few steps away from Tenchi.  
"Well, its been a long time since someone beat me, congratulations Tenchi" he smiled, happy to have battled with someone this strong again.

The calm didn't last long, in a few moment, the quiet surroundings were interrupted by a scream above the Masaki household.

"GET AWAY FROM TENCHI!"

* * *

On the landing in the Masaki household, Kiyone stood by the window, watching as Tenchi fought with this newcomer.

"I don't trust this guy" she said to herself. "How can he have Ryoko's gems?"

Her thoughts were interrupted as her Galaxy Police watch started to beep. Pressing one of the buttons on it, a screen came up with Yukinojo.

"Kiyone, the data you asked for has been found" the A.I stated as a picture of a familiar looking man came up. "The person you asked for information on, his name is Matthew Darkelios, a space pirate from the Caledonia system, reported crimes are few. But it seems that he disappeared after an attempted bank robbery one month ago"  
Kiyone frowned, her thoughts had been confirmed. "Thank you Yukinojo, that's all for now"

The screen disappeared with a buzz and her watch went silent. Turning back to the fight outside, she grinned.  
"Well, I guess we can add being a con-artist to his list then cant we? Enjoy your time while you can Matthew, because I'm taking you in"

Her thoughts were interrupted once again as she heard someone screaming.

"GET AWAY FROM TENCHI!"

Kiyone cringed, already knowing what was coming. "Lets just hope that Ryoko leaves him in one piece"

* * *

Tenchi dived out of the way as Ryoko flew down at Matthew like a speeding bullet. Barely moving out of the way, Matthew tumbled to the ground as the ground was covered in smoke where Ryoko had crashed.

"Who was that?" Matthew shouted to Tenchi as he got back up, holding out his energy beam ready for whatever had just tried to take him out.  
"Your worst nightmare" a voice came from the smoke and dust, unable to see the person, Matthew stood still, only stepping back when he saw another energy beam form within the smoke.

Without warning, Ryoko flew out at Matthew, tackling him. As they flew through the air, Ryoko stopped, letting Matthew continue flying until he landed against a tree. Yelling out in pain, Matthew could hardly move, yet he managed to force himself up.

"That power, its just like" before he could finish, he saw the person flying towards him again, in just a moment, she was right in front of him, her blade already in mid-swing. He rolled under the blade, getting to his knee's and raising his blade in time to block another swing from the woman.

"Y-you! But, you!" finally seeing who the woman was, Matthew froze, his blade being forced down.  
"Its over" with that Ryoko quickly thrust her blade forward, stabbing her opponent in the shoulder.

Matt dropped to the floor, trying to get away from the woman before him. As she raised her energy beam again, Tenchi ran over to them, the master keys blade blocking Ryoko's own blade.  
"That's enough Ryoko, don't kill him!" he pleaded, looking at her quite serious.  
"But Tenchi! He was attacking you! I thought he was going to hurt you" she looked at him, a little unhappy. The girls all rushed over, to check if everyone was alright. Washu, on the other hand, was already next to Matthew, scanning his body.  
"I think we've got some things to explain" Ayeka stated as Tenchi helped Matthew to his feet and towards their home.

Next time, everyone is here and knows about Matthew, but Kiyone has different idea's for our visitor.

* * *

Authors corner: I took my time bringing this chapter up, don't expect my updates so often, as I'm looking for a job right now, but seeing how it's the Easter holiday, I may manage another chapter soon.

Also, I have seen some of the reviews given to this story, and have a few replies to you peeps.

Anonymous reply - I'll take it that you have never read the 'No need for Tenchi' manga series, if you had, then you would know that Mihoshi is a little forgetful and even forgets who Yukinojo is at times.  
Don't worry about Matt getting overpowered, I made that mistake in a previous story, and I'm not doing it again, as for romance… I'm not promising anything.

Desert-Tiger & Lady Cresent Star - Thanks you guys, glad you like it


	4. Success of Failure?

"How is he miss Washu?" Ayeka asked as she walked into the lounge. Matthew was laying unconscious on one of the couches after loosing a lot of his energy from Ryoko's attack.  
Washu was stood next to him, clicking away at her computer as many devices of hers crawled over the young mans body, scanning as much data as they could on him.

"He's going to be fine Ayeka, he just needs to rest while that wound of his heals up" the red-headed genius replied, not turning to look at the princess, in case she missed some important data.  
"That is good to hear. But I do have another question miss Washu, about those gems"  
"Already been looking at those princess, as far as I can tell, they are exactly like Ryoko's gems, they give him the same power and regenerating properties. They already did a good job where Ryoko stabbed him, look", she pointed to the rip on his shirt. His wound had already closed itself up, and the scar was slowly fading away.

"The only thing that I've noticed, is that he doesn't have the amount of knowledge that Ryoko does, he cant tap into the gems energy as much as Ryoko can, but from what I picked up on the way back home, he has enough to at least hold his own against her. It doesn't explain why he couldn't lay a blow on her."

* * *

"But Tenchi! I didn't know he was a guest, he was fighting with you! What if you were in danger?" Ryoko pleaded, floating after Tenchi as he walked up the steps to the shrine, needing to finish his duties.  
"I know Ryoko, but you should always make sure I really am in danger before rushing in like that" the boy replied, as they reached the top of the stairs, picking up his broom that he dropped earlier.

Ryoko looked at him sadly, teleporting in front of him to check how he was looking.  
"What if it had been me Tenchi? Wouldn't you do the same for me?" she frowned, forcing him to stop with that sentence.  
"Ryoko, your much tougher then I am, if someone was fighting you, you could take care of yourself. Besides, it would have to be serious if someone wanted to fight you"

Moving past Ryoko, Tenchi began sweeping again, leaving her quite speechless.

* * *

The day was quite peaceful after the incident that morning, aside from Mihoshi causing another accident in Washu's lab. Everyone had gone about their day as they usually would, for most of the afternoon, Ayeka had kept on eye on their visitor, ready for when he woke up.

Sitting beside him, Ayeka could feel herself drifting off to sleep, her visit to Jurai had been tiring for her, and having to watch Matthew didn't help her much either.

"Miss Ayeka?" Kiyone said lightly, walking into the lounge, taking a seat opposite the princess. "You should get some rest princess, I can keep an eye on him tonight"  
"Thank you Kiyone, I think a nice nap would be nice, goodnight" Ayeka replied happily, she stood, yawning lightly before making her way to her room.

Kiyone kept a smile on her face until Ayeka was out of sight. She looked at Matthew with a frown, she knew that it would be easier to get rid of this guy now that most of the people in the house were sleeping. It was just a matter of getting him outside quietly before activating Yagamis transporter.

"Alright then, lets get you out of here and into prison" she said to him with a light voice, making sure not to wake him. Placing her arms under his, Kiyone hoisted Matthew up, pulling him off the couch, as she did so, she saw his feet falling, hitting the ground with a dull thud.  
"Damn it!" she cussed silently, letting go off Matt in the process, causing his head to land on the floor with a second thud. "Oh man, I'll be glad when this is over"  
Lifting the boy up again, she slowly pulled him into the entrance of the house, quickly slipping on her shoes she grinned, thinking about the short distance now. She left Matthew on the floor once again, allowing her to open the door.  
"Almost there" she praised herself, hoisting Matt up and placing his arm over her shoulder to make it easier to get through the door.

"Ki-kiyone? What are you doing?" a half-asleep Sasami said as she walked down the stairs, rubbing her eyes, this almost made Kiyone drop Matthew again, but she kept her composure and cocked her head to look at Sasami.  
"Why are you still up Sasami? You should be sleeping" she officer said, slowly loosing all hope of getting rid of the space pirate.  
"I was thirsty, I came down to get a glass of water. What are you doing with Matthew?" the princess replied, focusing on the two figures in front of her as she made her way to the bottom of the stairs.  
"Oh, I was just, um" Kiyone began to sweat, one slip-up and everyone would soon know what she was up to, "W-w-well, Matthew wanted to have a look at the pod he landed in, so I thought that I'd help him out there and see if there was anything we could find" Sasami looked at Kiyone, before nodding to her.  
"Oh, alright, well I'll be right back up after I have a drink, goodnight Kiyone"

With that, Sasami walked off to the kitchen, allowing Kiyone to sigh a sigh of relief, she quickly walked out of the door and made her way to the lake, laying her captive on the ground, she activated her watch, contacting Yukinojo.  
"Yes Kiyone, what is it?" the A.I spoke out.  
"Get ready to transport two onboard, directly to the cockpit"  
"Yes Kiyone, prepare for transportation, now"

* * *

Washu was in her lab, still studying all the data she had collected on their new arrival. She had taken both of his gloves earlier to study the gems themselves closely. She ran a number of tests, but everything came back the same.

"If these gems are the same as Ryoko's, then why would he have them? Surely someone like Ryoko would have the gems in his dimension, if that's where he really came from" she said to herself, as something popped up on her monitor.  
"Hmm, I wonder where she's going at this time, a little late to be getting orders from the Galaxy Police isn't it? Oh well, I can worry about that later"  
Moving away from her computer, she walked over to a large testing chamber where she he left the gloves for analysis.  
"If these worked for him, I wonder…"

Curiously, Washu picked up one of the gloves and placed it on her hand, it was a little loose, but she'd manage like this. Straight away she could see the gem glowing.  
"I guess the gloves allow anyone to harness the gems power, this is something" Clenching her fist, she quickly formed an energy beam in her gloved hand, she swung it around a few times before letting it disperse.  
"This could explain why Ryoko defeated him so easily, the gloves only grant the wearer use of its powers, but it doesn't seem to allow them full use, I wonder if they healed him anyway because he was wearing them"

As Washu began to take the glove off, the gem shined brighter then usual, images suddenly flashing through her head, of three women standing together. She recognised the image of Tsunami, but the other two figure were vague, though one did look quite familiar to her.  
"Gah!" Washu shouted out, quickly pulling the glove off and tossing it to the floor.  
"What was that? Tsunami?" Washu sat back down, making her computer appear before her.  
"There's more to this then I thought"

* * *

Matthew slowly opened his eyes, a gentle humming could be heard all around him. His vision was quite blurred, but he could just make out the image of a computer terminal, similar to that in front of his seat on his ship.

"All, just, a dream?" he said to himself trying to focus on something, until he saw a figure to his side, slowly, his vision cleared, allowing him to see one of the women he had recently met, that's when he realised he had a pair of handcuffs on each arm, keeping him sat down in his seat.

"What the hells going on? Where am I?" he shouted out trying to get himself free.  
"Ah, your up at last Darkelios, just in time to see where your going to stay for a long time" Kiyone said, keeping an eye on her controls. "Don't bother trying to get yourself loose, I've got that seat set up to shock you at my command"  
"What are you talking about? What have I done? You let me go now or I-Argggh!" Matt yelled out in pain as electricity slammed into his body. Kiyone took her finger off a button and looked at her prisoner.  
"I tried to warn you, now sit still and behave"

Matt slumped down in his seat, aggravated as much as he was, he wasn't really able to do anything at the moment.  
"So what exactly did I do to deserve this? And where are you taking me?" he said, a little calmer now. Kiyone looked at him, thinking he was still trying to pull a stunt with his 'other dimension' nonsense.  
"You know exactly why. The fact you're a space pirate for one, also I could have you down for attacking part of the Jurai royal family that I'm guarding."  
"So, that's what I do in this dimension. At least I'm not a lawyer" he said smugly.  
"Don't give me that alternate dimension crap! I know what you are and I'm taking you to the Galaxy Police space prison"

Matt looked away from her, eyeing the cockpit of her ship, it wasn't that different from his own ship, the control layout was pretty similar.  
"This the standard patrol vehicle in the Galaxy Police then is it?" he asked  
"Yeah, all we get to do is choose our own A.I for the ship" she replied, as she adjusted their course, setting them in line to head to her headquarters.  
"Oh ok, had any modifications made to it?"  
"Well, we had to get the hull re-enforced after the amount of times Mihoshi crashed the ship whenever we come in for a-" Kiyone stopped herself, looking at Matthew. "Why am I telling you this? Just, just be quiet, alright?"  
"Fine, but what am I supposed to do until we get there?"  
"I don't care, just let me drive in peace, alright?"

Matt went silent again, staring out into space, he smiled when he heard Kiyone sigh.

* * *

"Ayeka, I thought you were supposed to be watching over Matthew last night" Tenchi said, as they all sat around in the living room, with the exception of Matthew, Kiyone and Washu.  
"Heh, what's the matter princess, cant keep an eye on one guy for just one minute?" Ryoko taunted her, as she floated upside-down in front of the princess.  
"How dare you Ryoko! At least I can leave a person alone, unlike you! Following Tenchi everywhere he went, no wonder he gets annoyed with you!" the princess retorted, standing up to face Ryoko directly.  
"Oh yeah? Well at least I was keeping an eye on him! Unlike you!"  
"Ryoko!" Ayeka shouted out, as her barrier started to form. Ryoko spun herself around onto her feet, sparks forming between her hands as the two women faced off.

"Oh dear, please don't fight!" Mihoshi said in a panic, wanting to stop them, but too afraid to go near them.  
"Every time, don't they get tired of this?" Tenchi muttered to himself, expecting another large repair bill.  
"Wait, I thought that Kiyone was watching Matthew last night. I saw her taking him outside" Sasami quickly piped up, causing Ryoko and Ayeka to stop their little quarrel and look at the young princess.  
"Yes, that's right, miss Kiyone came down and said she would watch him for the night" Ayeka spoke out.

At that time Washu opened the door to her lab, as the conversation continued. Tenchi sat down next to Sasami.  
"Why was Kiyone taking him outside Sasami?" he asked politely, curious as to what Kiyone was up to.  
"Umm, well she said something about going to look at the place where Matthew crashed down here"  
"Well that was right outside, something may have happened to them, they could be lost out there!" Tenchi stood up looking at everyone, not noticing Washu as she leaned against the doorway.  
"Afraid not Tenchi, Kiyone went off in Yagami last night, I've got a feeling that our new friend was with her as well" Washu stated, getting everyone's attention straight away.

* * *

"Well, here we are, Galaxy Police HQ" Kiyone smirked, this had been easier then she thought.  
"Wow, it's bigger then my headquarters" Matt said, sitting up.

Kiyone stopped Yagami, before punching in her codes.  
"This is detective Kiyone reporting in, I have a space-pirate captured and ready for sentencing" she spoke out to the communicator. In a few moments the ships screen turned itself on, her captains image appearing in front of her.

"It's nice to hear from you detective, so who is the criminal that you caught for us" the captain said  
"Captain Grim?" Matthew spoke up, recognising the voice, the image of the captain moved in front of the other seat, looking at Kiyone's passenger.  
"Hmm? You look familiar, have we met?" the captain replied, Kiyone was surprised herself that Matthew recognised her superior officer.  
"Wow, I guess he hasn't changed a bit from the Grim I know" he muttered to himself before speaking up. "No sir, just a lucky guess, nice to meet you anyway"

"Ah, now I see. You look quite similar to the man that officer Ibuki brought in earlier" the captain said, looking at a file that was just out of view.  
"What?" Kiyone said bluntly, getting out of her seat to look at the captains image.  
"Yes, he look similar, only a little chubbier" he went off screen a moment, before another image appeared beside his own.  
"Who is this captain?"  
"His name is Matthew Darkelios, officer Ibuki caught him planning a bank heist"  
"I don't believe it" Kiyone said, kicking herself as she sat back down, grumbling.  
"So, where is this space pirate you mentioned detective?"  
"Never mind sir, a false alarm"  
"I see, well next time be sure that you caught a criminal before sending in a message like that detective, captain Grim out"

With that, the screen went blank, leaving Kiyone looking down at her controls.  
"I don't believe this, there is no way you can be from an alternate dimension, it makes no sense!" she said to herself, unsure of what to make of this guy now.  
"Your telling me, I cant understand any of this yet"  
"I still don't trust you, expect me to be keeping an eye on you"  
"The feelings mutual, tying me up like this in my sleep, I'll be watching out for you as well" Matt replied, looking at the screen.  
"Yukinojo"

Yukinojo came down form his spot on the roof of the cock-pit, looking directly at Kiyone.  
"Yes Kiyone?"  
"Set a course back for earth. I need some rest"  
"Of course, setting co-ordination for destination, earth. Journey will last 12 earth hours"  
"Thanks Yukinojo, that's all" Kiyone said lightly, making her way out of the cock-pit.  
"Um, could you untie me? Kiyone? Please?" Matt said trying to turn around to look at her, hearing the door shut, he slumped down again. "Great, now what do I do?"

As Yagami turned itself around and began to make its way back to earth, everything seemed fine, apart from.

"Wait a minute. Was he calling me chubby?"

* * *

Authors Corner: Heheh, I couldn't resist doing the big gap with the 'chubby' joke, I always seem to miss things and realise what happened when its too late.  
Captain Grim, I used the name from 'The Thin Blue Line', a comedy I was watching recently Officer Ibuki, taken from Street fighters ninja, Ibuki.  
Hope they don't mind me using those names.

Anyway, a bit longer this chapter, I wasn't expecting it to go on 2 pages more than I've been using on the previous chapters. Well, gets more of the story in I guess.

Also, thanks to another anonymous reply, I do hope more people R&R this when more of it is placed on the net, we can only hope.  
Till next time peeps!


	5. The great Space Bout

"I wonder why Kiyone would take Matthew away all of a sudden" Tenchi wondered as he sat down to breakfast with the girls.  
"Well lord Tenchi, there may have been something out in space that could help us learn more about him" Ayeka stated.  
"Ha! As if princess" Ryoko joked, relaxing in her seat as if there was no problem at all, "Knowing Kiyone, she's probably arrested him for crashing down here"  
"I'm sure that Kiyone has her reasons for doing this" Tenchi said, looking out at the lake "But I guess that we'll have to wait until they get back"  
"Oh Tenchi" Washu called out from the entrance to her lab "I need some help with an experiment"

* * *

"Ninety-eight thousand eight hundred and twenty one bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-eight thousand eight hundred and twenty one bottles of beer, you take one down, pass it around, ninety-eight thous-"  
"SHUT UP!" Kiyone snapped at Matthew "If I have to listen to one more round of that song I'll shock you with that chair again!"  
"Well, maybe if you untied me, I could look around the ship and be out of the way" Matt replied.  
"Don't count on it, I'm not letting you go until were back home"  
"Fine" Matt went silent again, staring out into space.

Sighing, Kiyone typed away at her terminal, checking for anything in the area, glad she had a bit of peace now.  
"Ninety-eight thousand eight hundred and twenty bottles of beer on the wall"  
"That's it!" Kiyone shouted, reaching for the button linked to Matthews chair  
"Ok, ok! I'll be quiet!" He quickly yelled out, watching Kiyone go back to her work. "Sorry…"

* * *

"Ok Tenchi I just need you to put on this glove" Washu said as she placed a small metallic helmet on his head.  
"Arent these Matt's gloves little Washu?" he said, not sure if he wanted to use them.  
"That's right, don't worry, it's perfectly safe"  
"MOM! What are you doing with Tenchi?" Ryoko said, phasing in in front of them.  
"Ah, perfect timing little Ryoko, I need your help here"

Washu grinned, suddenly placing a helmet on Ryoko's head.  
"Huh? What's this?" Ryoko asked, trying to pull the cap off, only to find it was stuck down.  
"Don't worry, its only to record some data. Tenchi, could you watch Ryoko for now?" Washu ordered, stepping over to a small terminal.  
"Um, ok little Washu" "Good. Ok Ryoko, just create an energy beam for me"

Ryoko nodded, closing her eyes as she clenched her fists, making her blade appear in her hand, she looked at Washu, wondering what exactly was going on.  
"That's perfect Ryoko. Now Tenchi, I want you to try and do exactly what Ryoko has just done, ok?"  
"Um, ok Washu, but what is this for?"  
"Don't worry Tenchi, just some simple tests"

Tenchi nodded, trying to create the blade, but to little avail  
"I don't think I can do this"  
"Tenchi, just imagine it. Think about creating the blade" Ryoko said, smiling a little at him.  
"Alright" the boy replied, concentrating more as he thought, it took a moment, but the blade appeared in his hands. "Hey, I did it!"  
"Nice work Tenchi, I knew you had it in you" Ryoko said happily.

"Yes, that's perfect" Washu said as she watched the data coming up on separate monitors. "It's just as I thought, these gems are identical to Ryoko's in every way. The same energy readings, the same wavelength, density. Apart from some fluxuations in your blade Tenchi,but that can be understood, thins being the first time you ever used one of the gems."

Tenchi and Ryoko both looked at Washu as she walked back over to them. They diminished their blades, only for Washu to take the glove and helmet off of Tenchi, and place the glove on Ryoko's hand.  
"If my calculations are right, and they usually are, this should add some power to your blade Ryoko" Washu stated, pulling Tenchi by the arm over to the monitors. "Just make the beam again Ryoko"  
"Alright" Ryoko replied, annoyed that she still had to take part in this test.

Clenching her fist again, she re-formed the blade in her hand, she could feel it start to crackle with power.  
"I knew it! By placing the glove on the same side as the gem she has right now, the power has been increased greatly. It's not as powerful as I hoped, but it's just like I said" Washu beamed happily, knowing her project was running smoothly.  
"Is that all now little Washu?" Tenchi asked, surprised at the energy coming from Ryoko's blade himself.  
"Yes Tenchi, you can go"

Tenchi began to walk off, until he saw Ryoko trying to take off the helmet aswell.  
"Ryoko" Washu stated firmly "I still need your help to test these gems"  
"But Mom!"  
"No buts little Ryoko, as the greatest genius in the universe, I have to check everything about these gems"  
"Mom!" "Don't worry Ryoko, it wont take too long, just a few hours"  
"I'll be going then" Tenchi said, sweating a little as he backed away from the scene, trying to find his way to the labs entrance"

* * *

"KIYONE! KIYONE!"

Matthew struggled in his seat, trying to get himself loose as he shouted out for the Galaxy Police officer, after seeing the readings that had popped up on the screen, he actually needed her to do something.  
"Kiyone! Get your butt in here now! If not were are in serious trouble!"

Kiyone calmly entered the room, before leaning down so her face was directly in front of his, as soon as she was looking him directly in the eye, she went from calm to angry.  
"What now? You need the bathroom? I, don't, CARE! I just want to relax for a while before we get back home, ok?"  
"I know" Matt said, trying to act cool  
"Then what is it?"  
"Look at the screen and you'll see for yourself"  
"What?" Kiyone turned away, looking at the reading for herself. "Oh I don't belive this"

No sooner then she'd looked at the readings, she ship shook violently as it was hit by a barrage or lasers.  
"Damn it! Yukinojo, evasive actions now!"  
"Yes Kiyone, starting flight pattern, epsilon-1 now" the computer responded, before the thrusters could be heard starting up.  
"We are receiving a transmission Kiyone"  
"Put it on Audio" She replied, typing in some commands "Shields up and holding steady"

The comm system buzzed to life, before a voice pitched up.  
"Yee-haa! This is the Galactic Biker Gang, Yoroshiku! Join up with us or get blown out of the sky!"  
"You guys!" Kiyone said in shock. "When did you guys get serious? Last thing I heard, you all got blown away by a single ship"  
"Wha-what? Nothing like that has ever happened to us! Besides, that was back before the old leader left"  
"Ah-ha! So it did happen then!"  
"What? Damn it, everyone, this ship isn't going to play nice, time for some fun!"

A large group of cheers and whoops could be heard from the other ships, before another barrage of laser fire hit the Yagami.  
"Damn it, I always rely on Mihoshi to drive in situations like this" Kiyone cussed herself for not being in the cockpit to see this coming earlier.  
"I thought you said she was a klutz" Matthew replied, a little shaken from the laser barrage.  
"Yes, she is a klutz, but she's a lucky one, we can get out of most situations unscratched with the way she pilots this thing"  
"I could help you know"  
"I don't think so, I'll just have to manage by myself" she said, typing away again before a barrage of lasers struck for the third time.  
"Shields down to seventy percent"  
"Shut up! I don't need you commentating on the details!"

* * *

Back at the Masaki household, Tenchi was busy out in the fields, working on the carrot patches, Ryo-ohki had ran off after him, hoping to help out a little while pinching some carrots for herself.  
Sasami and Ayeka were sat in the lounge, watching the Television, Mihoshi had been watching it with them as well, until she fell asleep on the sofa.

"Do you think he'll propose to her today sis?" Sasami said as she sipped her tea, waiting for the commercials to end.  
"I hope so Sasami, she would make him very happy" Ayeka replied, reaching over to the bowl on the table for a rice cracker.

"We now return to 'A touch of frost' and then after this, the news" the voice on the T.V said.

"Jack, where were you?" One of the voices said, as the other could be heard, taking his jacket off.  
"I'm sorry Shirly, but I had to finish up on this case, you know what Mullett's like when it come to the weekly crime report" another voce said.  
"Yes, as you've said many times. Well, at least it makes a change from seeing you get called away in the middle of our meal"  
"Shirly, there's something I wanted to ask you for a while"  
"Yes Jack, what is it?"  
"Well, weve been going out for some time now, and lord knows were not getting any younger"  
"Your proof enough of that Jack"  
"Yes, alright, alright. Well, I've been wanting to ask you now for quite some time, Shirly-"

All of a sudden, Mihoshi's watch came to life, beeping rapidly.  
"Waah!" Mihoshi yelled, before falling face-first to the floor, distracting both the princesses from their program.  
"Mihoshi! Are you ok?" Sasami said as she helped Mihoshi back up onto the sofa.  
"What was that about?" Ayeka asked.  
"Oh my, I'm sorry, but my watch" Mihoshi looked at her watch, seeing what was coming through. "Oh no! Oh my! This is not good at all!" she panicked, getting up and heading to the door of Washu's lab.  
"What is it miss Mihoshi?" Ayeka asked, following her to the door.  
"I just received a message from Yukinojo, he said that he and Kiyone are under attack from a biker gang! I've got to get Ryoko to help them!"

With that, Mihoshi ran into Washu's lab, leaving the princesses alone.  
"Oh my, this is quite serious" Ayeka said, before turning to Sasami. "Sasami, did he propose to her?" Sasami looked at Ayeka, before looking back at the T.V.  
"I thought that you were still watching it Ayeka"  
"Oh no! Quick, what's happening now?" The girls both dashed over to the T.V to see what was going on.

The sound of a car pulling over could be heard, before the door opened.  
"Alright Jack? Look's like we may have found that missing girl, but it may be too late" a new voice said.  
"Yes, alright George" a voice from a moment ago replied "Come on then! Let's go, let's go"

"Oh no, we may have missed it" Sasami said sadly.  
"Ooh, Mihoshi. She has the worst timing"

* * *

"Shields down to forty-six percent" Yukinojo stated "Switching to flight pattern epsilon-3"  
"Damn it, I cant hold out much longer" Kiyone said "There's just too many of them!"  
"Kiyone" Matthew said lightly, as much as they had against each other right now, he couldn't help but worry for her. "That's it! Let me go!"  
"Now is not the time!"  
"Listen! You said Mihoshi's the piolot for the ship, just let me steer, I can help you!"  
"I wont, you are staying right there!"  
"Do you wont to get blown up!" Matthew shouted out, silencing Kiyone completely. "If you don't get these cuff's off me, we are going to get blown to pieces, If you keep on the weapons system, I can pilot this ship and get up out of this!"  
"But, how can I trust-"  
"Now is not the time for trust! We just have to get outta this mess and that's it!

Kiyone looked at him, before feeling another barrage of lasers bounce off their shields.  
"Shields down to twenty-three percent" Yukinojo stated again.  
"Come on Kiyone, make the right choice" Matthew said, as serious as he could look when faced with a near death battle.  
"Yukinojo, place control of steering on terminal two" she said, quickly getting out of her seat to turn the of the bonds around his hands.  
"Yes Kiyone, pilots controls now active on terminal two"  
"Ok, now you keep your word, and if we get out of this, I'll turn off the ones on your legs" Kiyone stated, as she got back into her seat  
"Alright! Let's go!" Matt shouted, as he quickly typed away, turning off the thrusters and going straight into reverse. "Get ready to open fire!"

The Yagami's rear thrusters turned on full blast, allowing it to get behind two of the biker gangs ships. Catching them off guard like this, Kiyone unloaded a barrage of laser's on each ship, landing direct hits against their engines, bringing them to a halt.  
Yagami shot forward again and three more of the biker gangs ships started to give chase. Matthew sent the Ship rocketing up from its current course, trying to give them the slip.

"I cant loose these guys!" Matt shouted, as he tried to think of something to do. He'd been in space battles before, but never against so many at once.  
"Turn the ship around and go straight into reverse! I'll fire at them head on!" Kiyone shouted back, as she got the lasers charged for another wave of shots.  
"I get it, we keep moving as we shoot them all down"

Doing as he was told, Matt messed around with the thrusters, sending the Yagami into a spin, stopping to face the coming ships, before activating the reverse thrusters again.  
Kiyone shot at them again, managing to damage two more of the ships. The third flew right past them, unloading a few laser blasts on them.

"Damn it, shields are failing! Were down to eight percent!" Matt said, as he began to chase after the third ship.  
"Damn it, another two ships coming up from behind!"

Kiyone fired at the ship that at just hit them, managing a blow on it's engine, causing it to blow up right in front of them.  
Barely being able re-direct the Yagami's course, Matthew didn't see part of the ship fly at them, hitting one of the thrusters.

"Damn it! Were sitting ducks now, they can easily out manoeuvre us!"  
"Were not giving up yet Matt! Turn us around!" Kiyone shouted, entering some commands on her terminal.

Turning Yagami around, Matt watched as a third ship joined the two that were already coming up on them.  
Kiyone waited a moment, for them to get close enough. As they prepared to fire upon them, Kiyone unleashed the full stock of missiles at them.  
One of the ships pulled up, completely avoiding the missiles, while the other two didn't see it coming, and got their ships blown up aswell.  
Before they could cheer, the remaining ship flew back down, unleashing another volley of lasers, cutting through the shields and hitting the ship itself.

"Shields are down!" Matthew shouted out, as the ship continued to shake.  
"The hulls been damaged, one more hit and were done for" Kiyone said, watching as the rest of the biker gangs ships came in.  
"Sorry Kiyone, guess I don't have Mihoshi's skill when it comes to this, huh?"  
"Don't worry, you did good, besides, Mihoshi may be lucky in situations like this, but she could never land this thing without creating a mess"

"MEEEOOWWWWRRR!"

Matt looked around, wondering what he just heard. Swearing he just heard a cat screaming.  
"What the hell was that?"  
"The cavalry" Kiyone said, smiling as she relaxed a little. Watching Ryo-ohki fly by, shooting down half of the remaing biker gangs ships in one run.  
"That ship, who's is that?" Matthew said, watching it spin around and head towards the Yagami as the remaining biker gangs ships fled rapidly from the scene.  
"That would be Ryoko's ship"

Just as she said the name, the space pirates face appeared on the screen, grinning.  
"Hey Kiyone, I heard you were in trouble, so I thought I'd come and have some fun" Ryoko joked. "But it looks like they all ran off, the weaklings"  
"Ryoko?" Matt said to himself, he was so sure on her appearance, but the name made him wonder.  
"How did you know we were in trouble?" Kiyone asked and she set a course back to earth, following Ryo-ohki.  
"Oh, you can thank Yukinojo for that, he sent a distress call to Mihoshi"  
"Thanks Yukinojo" Kiyone said as she sat back down, relaxing.

* * *

As they travelled back, Kiyone turned off the bonds on Matthews legs, allowing him to get up and walk around a little, but not after he made a dash for the toilet. Kiyone powered down some of the systems to save some power until they could get home and have Washu repair the ship for them.

"So Kiyone" Ryoko asked, her image coming up on the screen again, causing Kiyone to jump a little.  
"Wha-what? What is it Ryoko" "Oh nothing, I was just wondering why you took our friend out all of a sudden, that's all" "W-well, you see" Kiyone panicked, a little worried about what to say.  
"She was taking me out here to see the point in space where I came through the rift" Matthew said as he came into the room, sitting back down, allowing Kiyone to sigh with relief.  
"I see, well, did you find anything?"  
"No, there was no signs that anything even happened there, not even a scrap of my ship"

The screen went blank again before Kiyone turned to Matt.  
"Thank you"  
"Don't mention it, besides, I owed you one for letting me out of those bonds" Matt said, smiling a little, before looking out of the screen. "Wait, stop here"  
"Why? What is it?" Kiyone replied, turning off the thrusters, letting the ship drift slowly towards earth.  
"Nothing, it's just, I've never seen the earth like this. The earth I'm from was covered in space-stations and towers"  
"I see, this is the first time you've seen how the earth really looks"  
"Yeah, it's so" Matt stared out at it for a moment, before smiling again. "Beautiful"

Kiyone smiled a little as well, before turning the thrusters back on.  
"Alright, lets get back now, the others are going to be wondering about what happened to us"  
"Alright, Kiyone" Matt replied, yawning a little after his long mis-adventure, ready for a rest on a nice warm bed.

* * *

Authors corner: Well, another chapter over, and I'm still not in work yet, something about sorting out the training sessions, oh well. More time to write this I guess, heheh.

A Touch of Frost and its characters are property of the Yorkshire Television Production team, I hope they don't mind. It's just I'm a big David Jason fan, and I've always wanted to see his character and Shirly to get together.

Any, a review from another Anonymous (Thank god for copy + paste)  
Anyway, the limits of Ryoko's power with and without her gems has always been somewhat of a mystery. I don't think we ever saw Ryoko use her beam sabre when she didn't have her gems (which wasn't very long, so no-one can really say)  
Also, we have to remember that Minagi was specially modified by her master, 'Yakage' with the data he had from trying to reproduce the 'lightning eagle sword'.  
I guess the full limits of their power will always be a puzzle for us, unless something happens in the latest series that's being made.

Oh well, I'm off before I begin rambling some more about stuff. Till next time peeps!  
Oh, and expect more people to come into this soon!


	6. Time out before another visit

"Good morning Tenchi!" Sasami said happily, as she laid out breakfast ready for everyone.  
"Morning Sasami" he replied, helping out by putting out some of the dishes.  
Yesterday had been quiet after Kiyone and Matthew had returned to the Masaki home. Both said little about why they had disappeared, leaving Ryoko to tell them what she found out. 

Breakfast went by quickly aswell, Ryoko left the table early to watch TV before Mihoshi could watch her cartoons. Matthew and Tenchi had both stayed behind to help Sasami clean up.

"So what's it like Tenchi?" Matt asked as he picked up the plates from around his spot.  
"What do you mean?" Tenchi replied as he carried a small pile of empty dishes over to the sink, looking at the other boy, a little puzzled.  
"Oh come on, all alone in the middle of the forest, living with six girls"  
"Oh that" Tenchi chuckled, as Matt walked over, placing his dishes next to the others. "Well its ok, I guess but it does have its problems"  
"Oh? What kind of problems?"

It wasn't a moment too soon that the house rumbled.  
"Oh yeah! I'll show you princess!" Ryoko shouted out from the lounge, another tremor following shortly after.  
"How dare you Ryoko!" Ayeka shouted "Azaka! Kamedake!"  
"Oh dear, please stop fighting!" Mihoshi could be heard pleading just before the house shook again. Sasami began to walk towards the lounge door.  
"Mihoshi, stay back or you might get hurt!" Kiyone said from just beyond the door as Sasami opened it.  
"Sis! Ryoko! Stop it before Tenchi gets mad!" she said, causing silence.  
"Fine, I would have whipped you butt anyway Ayeka" Ryoko said, disappearing before Ayeka could respond.  
"Why you!" Ayeka said angrily, before she be seen walking off with her guardians following.

Sasami walked back into the kitchen, closing the door behind her before heading over to the sink, patting Ryo-ohki on the head as she munched away at some carrots just by the sink.  
"See what I mean" Tenchi said as he grabbed a plate, wiping off any of the leftover food before handing it to Sasami.  
"Not really, now I wonder how you cope with it all" Matt replied as Sasami handed a dish to him. Tenchi chuckled a little, before continuing to help with the washing.

* * *

Meanwhile, another ship was making its way to earth, the ship was sleek, yet elegant, making its way with ease.

"Hinase, how long until we reach our destination?" a familiar feminine voice asked, a young woman who was busy looking at her control panal.  
"We still have eight point five hours remaining until arrival" a crystal replied, as it floated in front of the woman.  
"Ok then, I'm gonna take a nap, wake me up when we get there, ok Hinase?"  
"Of course"

The woman got up out of her seat, walking out of the cockpit, leaving the ship to run itself.

* * *

Tenchi was busy in the fields, getting another batch of carrots for their lunch and dinner. Stopping for a break, he sat down, opening up the box Sasami had gave him.

"Ah, what have we got?" he said to himself as he picked up a jar full of tea.  
"Hmm, carrots?" he said, picking up one of the three carrots that had been put in the box.  
"Mreow!" Ryo-ohki yelped happily as she jumped up from out of nowhere, latching onto the carrot.  
"Oh, I see" Tenchi said as he noticed a little note under the other carrots, which read 'For Ryo-ohki!'

Tenchi grinned, as he drank some tea, before picking up a rice cracker and munching on it.  
Ryo-ohki mewed at him, before hoping into his lap, getting a light pat on the head. Ryo-ohki looked in the box, before grabbing another carrot between her teeth and pulling it out to eat.

"Well, I better get back to work before you start eating everything in the fields" Tenchi grinned as he put the third carrot in front of Ryo-ohki and quickly finished his drink.  
"Meow!" Ryo-ohki said happily, before hopping off, letting Tenchi get more carrots for her.

* * *

"What are you watching Mihoshi?" Sasami said as she walked into the lounge, seeing Mihoshi sat down in front of the TV, intently watching every moment of the show.  
"Oh, It's called Final Fantasy Unlimited! It's real good Sasami!" Mihoshi replied giggling at the screen as Chobi began yanking Ai's hair.  
"What is that thing?" Sasami asked, looking at Chobi.  
"I'm not sure, I think its called a Chocobo or something. I think its cute"

Sasami smiled before spotting Kiyone laying down on the patio, deciding to see how she was.  
"Kiyone?" she said, sitting down next to the detective.  
"Hmm?" Kiyone murmured, turning her head to the side to look at the little princess. "Oh, hey Sasami" she said, smiling.  
"How are you doing Kiyone? You seem quiet"  
"Oh its nothing, I guess I'm still just a little tired, that's all"  
"What exactly were you doing with Matthew Kiyone? You told me you were going to check the crash site"  
"I'm sorry Sasami, its just that I had to check something, and I really needed his help to do it" Kiyone said, though she was drifting from what happened, there was truth to what she said.  
"I see, well I hope that your both ok"

Sasami smiled before getting up and walking back into the house, Kiyone sighed, closing her eyes.  
"I still cant believe any of this, I'm glad Ryoko didn't say too much"

"Yosho, I feel worried" Ayeka said, kneeling down in front of her brother inside his temple, both drinking their tea peacefully.  
"Oh? What exactly is it that worries you?" Yosho replied, looking out the window a moment, staring at the tree outside.  
"Our new guest, there is something about him that troubles me"  
"Go on"  
"The fact that he can use the same power as Ryoko is one thing, but how he came across her gems"  
"I see" Yosho paused, sipping his tea "Well he has not caused any trouble at the moment, It would be best if you treat him as you would any other person for now"  
"I understand my brother"

Ayeka stood up, bowing to the old man before heading to the door.  
"I guess he isn't that bad Yosho" Ayeka said, smiling a little. "At least he seems to be more polite then Ryoko" Giggling to her self, Ayeka made her way out of the Shrine, ready to make her way back to the house.

Yosho finished his tea, before standing and looking out of the window again.  
"Hmm, this is quite interesting, let us hope that Ryoko does not get her hands on his gems"

* * *

"This place is so peaceful" Matthew said to himself as he wondered along one of the paths through the forest, looking at the surroundings.  
"Is this how my earth could have looked?"

Seeing a clearing just ahead, he walked on, coming to a small rocky area. Sitting down on one of the rocks, he smiled, looking down he could see the Masaki home and the lake beside it.  
"I hope they don't mind me staying here for now, at least until I find some way of getting back home" he murmured, lifting one foot onto the rock to rest his chin against his knee.

Looking at his hands, he remembered that Washu still had his gloves.  
"I better get those back before I forget again" With that, he got up, making his way back along the path.

* * *

"Excuse me, we are about to arrive at our destination, it is time to wake up now" the crystal said, as it floated above our travelling girl.  
"What? So soon?" she replied, sitting up and rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes. "Alright, send a message to Washu that were coming in Hinase"  
"Right away"

The crystal flew off, leaving the girl to get herself ready to see her friends again.  
"I wonder how they're all doing, hope they don't mind me dropping in for a visit"

* * *

"Little Ryoko?" Washu called out from the door to her lab looking around to see if anyone else was in.  
"I think she's on the roof Washu" Sasami said from her spot in the lounge.  
"Oh that's ok, she'll find out when she comes inside"  
"Find out what?" Sasami asked, niether her or Washu noticing Matthew opening the front door.  
"That we have another guest" Washu said grinning.

Walking out of the doorway, Washu saw Sasami smile as a familiar woman came out.  
"Hey Sasami! Long time no see" she said, waving, catching Matthews attention.  
"Minagi!" Sasami said getting up and rushing over to the woman.  
"M-Minagi?" Matthew said, catching all the three girls attention.  
"Hmm? Who are y-!" before Minagi could finish, Matthew had grabbed hold of her, hugging her gently.  
"It is you…" he said, closing his eyes.  
"Have I missed something?" Minagi said, a little shocked at what was going on, while blushing from the hug.  
"I'm not sure" Washu said, puzzled herself, "But I think we need to sit down and talk about this"

* * *

Authors corner: Well, a bit of a short chapter after the last two.  
Man, I had such a case of writers block this chapter, just trying to figure out where to start gave me enough trouble.  
Heh, well lets see. First of all, Final Fantasy Unlimited is property of Square Enix.  
Sencond, it's finally revealed, some of you were wondering who Ryoko reminded him of, but its not all out just yet, heheh!

Couple more replies here,  
Nikcorra and A Fan, glad you've enjoyed it so far. Keep tuned in to see Matt's history revealed.

I'm off now, till next time peeps.  
Be prepared for Matthew's history to be revealed, among other things.


	7. A history is revealed

Authors note - Any scene in _italics_ are part of Matthew's story about his past. 

"Alright then" Washu said as she sat down between Ryoko and Minagi. "I think its about time you tell us about yourself Matthew" The whole group had gathered in the lounge, all sat down as Matthew stood before them, feeling a little uneasy that he was the centre of attention at the moment. Nether the less, he got himself into this situation, and this was the only way out.

"Fine, I guess this was going to come sooner or later" he said, running a hand through his hair.  
"Back in my dimension, I was in the Galactic Federations investigations division, under the command of Captain Grim" "So that's why you recognised my captain?" Kiyone said.  
"That's right, it seems that he hasn't changed much at all" "Wait a minute" Tenchi spoke up "I thought you were out in space to check the point of Matthews arrival" "Um" Kiyone stuttered, forgetting that her time by the galaxy police HQ was meant to be secret.  
"That's not important" Matthew said, drawing the focus away from what Kiyone almost let slip.

He walked around the group, stopping beside Minagi, placing a hand on her shoulder.  
"While I was there, Minagi was my partner. I was placed under her for my field training in investigation" "Ok" Washu said, a little bluntly. "But that doesn't explain the gems, or how you reacted to seeing Minagi" "I know, I know" Matt replied. "I'll get to that soon enough, it was three years ago, about four months after I started working with Minagi.

* * *

_"Here you go boss, one milk coffee with extra whip, just the way you like it" Matthew said, as the door to his office closed behind him. He walked over to Superiors desk, placing her drink beside her.  
Minagi looked up from her notes, smiling before she took a swig of her drink.  
"Ahh, thanks Matt, I need this if I'm going to get through all this paperwork tonight" she said, looking a little frustrated.  
"You want me to help you with anything? I can sort out some of those documents if you like"_

_Minagi sighed, leaning back in her chair and stretching her arms.  
"I don't know, you know what the captain can be like, he'll expect each part of the document to have been written out by me" "I see, well just tell me if you need anything" Matt said, getting back up and heading to the door.  
"Hmm? Where are you going?" "I need to practice my close quarters combat. You said it yourself that I seemed a little sloppy after we stopped that bank heist last week" "Oh yeah, you threw punches like a little kid would in a fight at school" Minagi said, giggling a little as she spoke._

_As Matthew was about to walk out, Captain Grim came in, a little saddened, yet keeping a serious look on his face.  
"Going somewhere Detective Dark?" he spoke sternly, looking at the boy.  
"Just down to the training area, sir" Matthew replied, not that used to addressing the captain yet.  
"Good, I need to speak with your superior privately anyway, be on your way" "Alright" saluting the captain, Matthew made his way of the room, making his way to the gym._

_

* * *

_

"I didn't know at the time, but when the captain spoke with her, it was to give her some bad news" Matthew said, back in his position in front of everyone, clearly looking quite down himself just by thinking about it.  
"What happened?" Minagi said, obviously worried about the other version of her.  
"You, I mean, she." he stopped, before he could stumble over anymore words. Taking a breath, he continued. "The captain had came to tell her that her sister her been killed during an attack on her home planet. I never even knew that she had a sister before then, and it surprises me now to find out your twins" he stopped, looking between Minagi and Ryoko.

"What?" Ryoko shouted, standing up suddenly. "What the hell happened that could have killed me?" She walked over to Matthew, grabbing his shirt to keep him from getting away.  
"C-calm down! I, I don't know all the details, b-but there had been a mass slaughter caused by a vicious space pirate" Matthew was worried again, he had seen Ryoko's power first-hand and didn't want to get on her bad side again. Washu got up, placing a hand on Ryoko's arm.  
"It's alright little Ryoko, let him speak. I'm sure you were just as skilled in that dimension" she spoke softly, watching her daughters grip loosen.  
"T-thanks" Matthew said, taking a few breaths to calm himself as the others got back to their seats.

Everyone looked back to Matthew, waiting for him to continue with hi story.  
"What happened next?" Sasami said, breaking the small silence.  
"Well" the boy replied, as he sat down to let his legs rest a little. "I didn't know about any of this until I came back about an hour later"

* * *

_Matthew walked towards his office in some shorts and a vest, a small towel draped around his neck. The was a little sweat on his forehead.  
"Hey boss, I'm back" he said as the door slid open. "Boss?"_

_Matthew looked at Minagi's desk, seeing her, head down on the table, sobbing silently. He walked over to her side, placing a hand gently on her shoulder.  
"What's wrong? Minagi?" he said softly, looking at his superior with worry.  
"Its" Minagi sobbed out, as she tried to stop crying. "My sister, my sister is dead" she blurted out before she continued to cry.  
"I, I'm sorry" Matthew said, unsure of what else to say in a situation like this. "I think you should get some rest boss, come on, I'll take you to your room" "T-thank you" she said, getting up slowly and rubbing her eyes._

_The walk was quiet, as they went to the sleeping quarters of their HQ. Minagi had calmed down a little, still lightly sobbing. Matthew had been completely silent, he didn't know what to say or do._

_When they reached her room, Minagi typed in her code, letting the door slide open.  
"Alright, try and get some rest boss, hopefully you'll be ok in the morning" Matt said sadly, looking at the floor.  
"Matthew, I don't want to be alone right now, could you" Minagi hesitated, her gaze lingering on him as he looked up at her. "Could you spend a little time with me? Just until I'm ready to sleep" "A-alright, I guess it wont do any harm"_

_

* * *

_

"Wait, don't tell me that you-" Ayeka said, looking at Matthew, almost in shock.  
"No! No, I didn't" Matthew said, pausing as he looked at the princess. "I spent the night with her, just talking, making sure she was ok. In that one night I learned more about her then in all my time under her study"

He sighed, standing back up before he continued.  
"We became a lot closer that night, soon after that night, we became partners, both in the federation and intimately" he said, a hint of happiness on his face.  
"Aww, it sounds so romantic, heheh, I wish I could find someone like that" Mihoshi said, smiling, before Kiyone nudged her.  
"Now's not the time Mihoshi" the detective said, clearly a little annoyed with her partner.

Matthew grinned a little, before looking at Washu.  
"I'm sure that we could all do with a little break before we continue with this story" "I suppose your right, give you some time to catch your breath" Washu said, as she got up and had a stretch.  
"I'll go make us some refreshments" Sasami stated happily as she got up and made her way to the kitchen, Ryo-ohki following happily.

* * *

Meanwhile, a cloaked figure walked through a large space station, making her way into the bounty office, dragging a poor, unconscious man behind her. She walked up to one of the clerks.

"I'm here to collect the bounty on Lupin Po" she said sternly.  
"Ah, of course, one moment please" the man behind the desk said, motioning for two officers to come over to them. They quickly took the man, confirming his identity before dragging him off to a temporary cell.  
"And my reward?" "Please bear with me while I bring up his data" the man replied, typing in the data before the information came up. "Here we are, Lupin Po, worth two hundred credits" "Good, now do you mind if I look through the current bounties on offer?" she replied as she took her reward, placing it in one of her cloaks pockets.  
"Go right ahead" the clerk answered happily, turning the monitor around to let her look.

She scanned through the names slowly, before looking back at the man.  
"Excuse me, but when was the bounty on the space pirate Ryoko removed?" she asked, the look on her face hidden from view.  
"Ryoko? I'm not sure, let me check" the man said, turning the monitor back to him before typing in the name. "Ah, here we go. The bounty on Ryoko has been taken down due to a lack of activity. It seems that she has been classed as 'out of action' and therefore, no longer a threat" "WHAT?" the woman shouted, turning all attention onto her.  
"I am sorry, but that's how these things work, unless she starts again, she has now worth for a bounty hunter, even then, the bounty will be nothing like what it used to be according to my files" "Great, just great. All my time spent chasing after her, and for nothing" "Yes, it does seem that way. Now unless you have any more business, good day"

* * *

"Alright then, where was I?" Matthew asked, sitting down now on a seat from dining table.  
"You just explained your relationship with the Minagi of your dimension" Tenchi replied, stroking Ryo-ohki's head as she got comfortable on his lap.  
"Oh right, ok. It was about a year after out relationship began that I got those gloves with the gems on. They were a gift from Minagi, she told me that they belonged to her sister. Apparently, she got her mother to graft the gems onto the gloves specially for me." "Why did she do that?" Sasami asked, as she reached over to the table to get a cookie.  
"She said it would be able to help me in fights, she wanted to make sure that I would be safe if I got into trouble while I was alone. It wasn't long after that, when the space pirate came" "Space pirate?" Ryoko asked, her attention caught once again.  
"Yes, it may have been the same one that had killed the other you" Matt said sadly, "It was a dark day for the federation"

* * *

_"Sir, the target it getting through our barriers like nothing there!" One of the Galactic officers said as he typed away to seal of the holding cells.  
"Damn, everything we've thrown at him is useless. Deploy the heavy artillery, and make sure the officers using them are suited up in case the ship ruptures" The commander ordered, sitting at the centre of operations.  
"Yes sir" another officer replied, before moving over to the speaker "Siege groups, report to the heavy artillery cages and suit up!"_

_Minagi and Matthew were busy checking on everyone that had been in the space pirates path. So far things were looking bad, bodies all over the corridors.  
"Any luck boss?" Matt called out as he moved over to another of the fallen officer.  
"No, all of them are gone. What kind of person would do this?" Minagi said, clearly upset.  
"Guh, h-help, me" someone barely cried out._

_Minagi and Matthew dashed over to the officer, he clutched his stomach tightly.  
"You'll be ok" Minagi said, quickly searcing for any wounds.  
"Who did this?" Matthew asked, kneeling down beside them.  
"I-I don't know. But he, he said he was looking for the gems" the officer said, as he started to cough, blood beginning to drip out of his mouth.  
"The gems?" Matthew said, before looking at his gloves.  
"Y-yeah, he said he knew that they were here. He, he's too powerful, you should-" "Hey, come on, try and stay up, you'll be ok" Minagi got up, wiping a few tears from her eyes. "He must have known that the gems were coming to me. I've got an Idea" "What?" "Just come with me, I'll tell you on the way!"_

_

* * *

_

_"Where are they? I know the gems are here and you will tell me" the space pirate said, lifting up an officer by his arm.  
"I-I don't know what your talking about!" the officer screamed out.  
"Then you will die, just like the ones before you" The pirate brought forth his energy beam, as he swung it, Minagi dived in just in time, blocking the blade with her own.  
"You want the gems?" she said, before spinning around and kicking the pirate down the corridor, causing him to drop the officer.  
"You! You're the one who tried to stop me before!" "Matthew! Take the officer and get out of here, I'll handle this!" "But!" Matthew shouted out as he helped the officer to his feet.  
"No buts! I'm going to make him pay for killing my sister!" Minagi said, before she flew at the pirate, lunging with her energy beam._

* * *

"I never saw her again after that" Matthew said sadly. "My captain said that she took off in one of the federation ships and the space pirate had gave chase. She must have made him believe that she had the gems" "So you've been on your own ever since?" Minagi asked.  
"Pretty much. I never could find another partner on the force, and I didn't want to start another relationship when I knew that my Minagi was still out there" "That's so sad" Sasami said, clearly feeling down herself after hearing the story.

Mihoshi was already in tears after hearing the story, getting a sympathetic pat on the shoulder from Kiyone. The others were silent, taking in everything that they had heard.  
"Um, if you guys don't mind, I need a little time alone" Matthew said, looking at the ground to hide the tears in his eyes.  
"Yes, alright" Washu said, getting up so she could head back into the lab.  
"Thankyou" Matthew chocked out, finding it hard to speak now. Quickly, he made his way outside, making his way over to the lake.  
"Well, I'm going to the onsen" Ryoko said, before phasing away.  
"Yes, I need to go myself aswell" Ayeka said, getting up to be on her way.  
"We'll be there in a bit" Kiyone said, before looking at Mihoshi. "Come on, you need to relax after that" "I should go to the shrine, grandpa is probably waiting for me" Tenchi said.  
"Well, I guess I'll start making dinner" Sasami said as she got up, before noticing that Minagi wasn't doing anything. "Are you ok Minagi?" "Hmm? Oh, I'll be ok Sasami, its just a little hard to hear about another version of yourself" she replied "Come on, help me out with dinner, It'll take your mind of it" "Alright, thanks Sasami"

* * *

"I cant believe that they took the bounty off Ryoko's head" our bounty hunter said as she flew through space in her ship.  
"Mreow?" the ship cried out, a few crystals floating around their pilot.  
"No, its ok. Besides, it finally gives me a good reason to go visit her" she replied, grinning.  
"Meow! Mreow?" the ship cried out again.  
"Yes, I'm sure she'll be there too, now come on Ken-ohki, its time we paid another visit to earth!"

* * *

Authors Corner - Well, it's the end of chapter 7, and all in good time too, for I finally start work in a few days, so I've got this up just in time.  
Matthews history has finally been revealed, but what will happen now? Heck, even I don't know!

Ok, um… Oh yes! Lupin Po, our little bounty guy, was completely made up, if anyone does use this name as well, its pure coincidence.

Ok, another review from A Fan.  
Tenchi is very kind isn't he, I think that's the reason that's the girls never leave. Along with the fact that he could never tell them to leave.  
Also, this is a little more directed to the original series, It's just that it doesn't feel complete for me without Kiyone, and I just felt like bringing in our bounty hunter anyway, just for kicks.

Anyway, until next time people!


	8. Restless nights and Hectic mornings

Matt was laying down on the sofa. He had decided to sleep there for now until they could sort out some space for him. It didn't bother him though, he was used to falling asleep at his seat in his old ship.  
But tonight was different, the fact he had seen Minagi didn't really help him. 

"Ugh, this is useless. But what can I do right now?" he thought, sitting up to look at his surroundings. Even though it was dark, he could make out the rooms surrounding, he could just make out another figure in the room.  
"Who's that?" he asked, trying to make out the figure.  
"Cant sleep either?" Washu said, smiling as she sat down on the other sofa.  
"No, I'm having a little trouble getting used to this, I miss the hum of my ships processing unit" Matt sighed, staring at the ceiling "And then there's her. I know she isn't the same Minagi, but seeing that face" "I understand, It was just the same for me once, seeing Tenchi's baby cousin reminded me of my first child. I hadn't seen him for such a long time, it made me happy just holding little Taro like I used to hold my own son"

Matt looked over to Washu, he already knew that Ryoko and Minagi were her 'daughters' but he never heard any mention of her son.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you-" Matthew said, before Washu interrupted him.  
"Its ok, that was a long time ago. At least I can understand what you went through, loosing someone you loved" the little genius replied, as she leaned back into the sofa to relax.  
"Um, I know this is probably a bad time to ask, but do you think I could have my gloves?" Matt asked, yawning as he rubbed one of his eyes.  
"Oh, of course, come with me into the lab. I'll 'show you around' if your up for it" Washu said, getting up, and grinning slyly when Matthew couldn't see her face.  
"Alright then, It'll take my mind off things at least"

Matt got up, following Washu as she grinned, happy to have a new 'guinea-pig' to run some tests on.

* * *

"Hey, Ryoko?" Minagi called out from her Futon, looking over where her sister was sleeping.  
"Hmm? What, what is it?" Ryoko said, sitting up to look at Minagi.  
"Do you believe his story? Matthew I mean"  
"Why? What's bothering you?"  
"Its just" Minagi sat up as well, facing her twin. "Hearing about someone who could have been me, its unsettling"

Ryoko smiled, phasing over to Minagi's side. Kneeling down to place a hand on her shoulder.  
"Don't worry about it, she did what anyone in love would do, she protected the guy she loved by using herself as a distraction. I'm sure she was fine though"  
"You really think that?" Minagi asked, turning her head to look at Ryoko  
"Of course, I'd do exactly the same thing for Tenchi just make sure he'd be safe"  
"I guess your right" Minagi smiled, before yawning "Thank you, sis"

Ryoko stood up, stretching a little, before looking down at her sister.  
"Its nothing, get some rest" she said gently, before a grin came over her face, "Speaking of Tenchi, I think its about time I checked up on him" With that, Ryoko phased out, missing a light giggle from Minagi.

* * *

"Comfy?" Washu asked as she sat down, ready to collect the data on Matthew  
"Washu! Let me go!" Matt shouted out, as he tried to break free of the metallic arms that held him in midair. The small helmet with little lights all over it on his head.

"Oh come on" Washu said, smiling at him cutely while she stepped in front of him, running a finger in circles over his stomach. "It'll only be a minute"  
"A-alright" Matt said quietly, bowing his head down to hide the light blush on his cheeks.  
"Haa! Thank you!" Washu hopped back to the terminal, before looking at him. "By the way, could you call me, little Washu?"

Matt groaned a little, preparing himself for the worst.

* * *

"Heheh, Tenchi looks so cute when he's sleeping" Ryoko thought to herself as she floated above the one she loved, she reached out, moving her hand over to his face.  
"Mmm" Tenchi moaned out turning his head to the side, causing Ryoko to stop herself for a moment.

Ryoko waited a second, before cupping his cheek and caressing it. She smiled, floating down gently on top of Tenchi, falling asleep on his futon as she listened to his gentle breathing.  
"Sleep tight Tenchi"

* * *

"Well, most of these readings are normal, your psyche is a little low, but that may be because your tired.  
Your astromental levels are quite low, which is a little odd, how often do you use those gems?" Washu spoke out as the data came to her, looking at Matt  
"Um, ever since I got them, I've used them, about a few hours a day?" he replied.  
"Well, that would explain this, you seem to loose a lot of mental energy after long sessions without the gloves, its almost like an addiction."  
"Is that a problem?  
"I'd say so, extended use of those gems has affected your body, you really have overdone it. It could lead to some permanent damage if you overdo it"  
"I see, is there anything I can do about it?"  
"I'm not sure, right now you shouldn't use the gems for a while"  
"But, I need" As Matthew spoke out, a figure came into view "Mihoshi?"

Washu immediately turned around, looking at the half-asleep officer.  
"W-what are, how did you get here?" Washu shouted out, worried for a good reason. Matt watched on, oblivious to what was about to happen.  
"Mmm, sorry Washu, it's just that we've got a visitor" Mihoshi slurred out, rubbing her eyes slowly.  
"What? At this time of night?"  
"Actually, its eight in the morning"  
"Eight!" Matthew exclaimed, "How long have I been here?"

Unaware that he had surprised Mihoshi with his outburst, neither he or Washu saw her bump into one of the machines. Resting her hands against it, she somehow managed to press the machines self-destruct button, causing the machine to glow in a bright light.

"Not again!" Washu cried out, as she grabbed Mihoshi, pulling her behind another machine for cover.  
"Hey! What about me? Help!" Matt shouted out from where he was bound. Hearing no reply, he looked at the machine, taking a deep breath.  
"Oh shi-"

In a moment, the explosion rumbled through the lab, covering it all in smoke, catching Ayeka's attention as she walked down for breakfast, seeing some of the smoke seep out of the door to the lab.  
"What is Miss Washu up to now?"

* * *

"Well, this place is quite cosy" our cloaked woman said as she looked around the living room, not noticing Ayeka behind her, fanning away the smoke, until she closed the door to the lab. "Oh, hello princess, its nice to see you again" she said, turning around to face Ayeka.  
"Hmm, I'm sorry, do I know you?" the princess replied, placing the fan out of view.

Removing the hood, Nagi, revealed herself, smiling at Ayeka.  
"What the hell are you doing here?" Ryoko shouted, catching both Nagi and Ayeka by surpise, as she phased through the ceiling. "Think you can try and get that bounty on my head again?"  
"About that" Nagi replied, hoping to stop the former space-pirate from her attack, but it was little too late. Ryoko already had her energy beam ignited, ready to do battle.

"Miss Ryoko! I will not have this behaviour inside Lord Tenchi's home!" Ayeka scolded Ryoko, glaring at her, as Nagi reached for her own sword, preparing to defend herself.  
"Shut up Ayeka! You can stay out of this!" Ryoko shouted back, lunging at Nagi.

She was ready to strike, until a bucket slammed down on her head, Washu sitting on top of it. She frowned a little, looking down at, the now floored, Ryoko.  
"Alright, I think that's enough Ryoko" the little genius said, hopping down onto her feet. "So why are you here, miss bounty hunter?"  
"I came to speak with Ryoko" Nagi replied, putting her weapon back in its hilt. "I wanted to be the one to tell her about her bounty"  
"What about it?" Ryoko asked, rubbing her head as she stood back up.  
"Its been taken off the lists completely. Looks like you've been out of work long enough for then to forget about you"  
"Wow, and you came all the way here to tell me that, I guess that means you can go now"

Nagi looked at the former pirate, smiling a little.  
"Actually, I was hoping to" Nagi started, before Ryoko interrupted her .  
"To what, its not like I'm going to forgive you after all the time you spent chasing after me" Ryoko smirked, not really wanting to spend time with any bounty hunter.  
"Oh really Ryoko" Ayeka said, stepping over to Nagi "Everyone deserves another chance, just like when Tenchi set you free" she spoke out before murmuring "Even though it was by mistake"

Nagi grinned a little at this, nodding to the princess before looking back to Ryoko.  
"Well, what do you say Ryoko?" Nagi asked, reaching out hand to shake Ryoko's hand.  
"Whatever" Ryoko muttered, batting Nagi's hand away lightly "Do what you want, but don't involve me" With that, she phased away.  
"Oh that girl, she never learns" Washu said, sitting down with the others  
"Your right, miss Washu, she is quite stubborn" Ayeka added, sitting down as well, smiling at their guest.  
"Maybe with a little bit of time" Nagi said, grinning as Ken-ohki jumped onto Ayeka's lap, mewing gently.

Washu smiled aswell, leaning back and staring at the ceiling.  
"You know, I'm sure there was something I needed to do" she thought for a moment, patting Ken-Ohki on the head as she did so. "Oh well, I don't think it was important, I'll worry about it later"

* * *

"Oh my, how does Washu use these machines?" Mihoshi said, looking at the controls to the machine holding Mattew in mid-air.  
"I don't know, just press anything so I can get down from here!" Matt replied, his body feeling a very numb.  
"Alright, lets start with this one!" Mihoshi said to herself, pressing one of the buttons.  
"Aaaggh! Cold!" Matt cried out as one of the metallic arms sprayed him with Ice Cold water.

Panicking, Mishoshi pressed the buttons rapidly, hoping one of them was the release button. Not hearing the cries from Matthew.  
"No, not in the eye! Wah, dizzy! K-keep that thing away from me-he-hee!" he cried out as various devices went to work.  
"Oh maybe this one!" Mihoshi said as she got to the last button.

Pressing it, she turned around to watch all the arms let go of Matthew, dropping him to the floor with a quick thud.  
"Oh dear, are-are you ok Matt?" Mihoshi asked, kneeling down beside him.  
"Ouch" he said quietly, not wanting to get back up after that little ordeal.

* * *

Authors Corner - Well, another chapter over at last… I'd work on these a lot quicker if it wasn't for 2 things…  
1 - This damn writers block, its making things a lot more difficult…  
2 - My dad constantly hogging the computer to play 'Zumo' despite that fact he's completed it about 10 times already…

Anyway, hopefully in the next few chapters, we'll she a little bonding between characters, and eventually an adventure to go on. But for the next chapter, expect to get a visit into the Onsen.

Just 1 review last chapter, from Nikcorra again.  
Nikcorra - Nice to see another fan of Nagi, I haven't really planned much for her yet, but we'll see as time goes on.

Anyway, till next time peeps! Keep on watching for another update!


	9. Just another day on earth

"Ahh, what a gentle breeze" Azaka said, turning to Kamedake as the wooden logs stood stationary by the lake.  
"Yeah" Kamedake replied "Its been rather busy this week hasn't it"  
"Yes, it makes me glad that we are not human"  
"Um, what where we supposed to be doing here again"  
"I don't know, I'd just be glad if we got to see a little more action ourselves" Azaka stated, turning back to look over the lake. 

"Ryoko! Give that back!" Ayeka could be heard shouting out from in the onsen. Kamedake sighed, turning to face Azaka.  
"Just another typical day on planet earth, right Azaka?" Kamedake asked.  
"Yes, just another day" Azaka replied.

* * *

"So, Nagi" Mihoshi asked as she sat down in the onsen, so she the bounty hunter was between her and Kiyone. "What have you been up to since the last time we met"  
"Mihoshi, we never actually met Nagi, she used to chase us around before, back when we were helping the others out. Do you remember?" Kiyone stated, glad that she didn't have to worry about the bounty hunter for now.  
"Oh yeah, I remember. Your ship looks a lot like Ryo-Ohki, doesn't it"  
"Yes, I guess he does look a little similar" Nagi remarked, taking a sip of sake. "I haven't been doing a lot since the last time I saw you, just collecting a few bounties really. Although I did hope Ryoko would fly by one day, so I could try to capturer her"

Ryoko looked at Nagi from her spot next to Minagi, speaking up loud enough for the bounty hunter to hear her.  
"Heh, try and fail she means, she could never catch me in a thousand years, even if I took it easy" she exclaimed, downing a small bottle of sake in one go.  
"Um, should you really be drinking so quickly Ryoko?" Minagi asked, a little worried as Ryoko tossed the empty container into a small pile of twenty other bottles.  
"Don't worry about Ryoko" Washu said happily "She has the perfect immune system. So, thanks to my genius skills, she can never get drunk!" Grinning at her own intellect, Washu took a small sip from her bottle, savouring the taste.

"You know, I am rather glad that miss Nagi has decided to stay with us for a while" Ayeka announced as Sasami got in the onsen, after getting Ryo-ohki, who bounded on top of Sasami's head.  
"Really princess?" Nagi asked turning her head to look at the woman.  
"Yes, with any luck you could keep that beast Ryoko under control!" Ayeka laughed as Ryoko quickly got to her feet, not bothering to cover up her naked body.  
"What was that princess? Who are youcalling a beast miss high and mighty?" she shouted out, glaring at Ayeka.  
"Easy there Ryoko" Minagi said , standing up and placing a hand on her sisters shoulder.  
Ayeka grinned, taking a sip of sake. Her glee was short-lived, as a few seconds later, Ryoko tossed one of the empty bottles hard into the princess' forehead.  
"Ryoko! You'll pay for that!" Ayake shouted as she got up, giving chase as Ryoko floated off, throwing more of the empty bottles as laughed at the princess.

"Is this, normal?" Nagi asked, watching in disbelief as the others sighed.  
"Yep, this is just a typical day here" Sasami said, before getting up. "Well, I'm going to make dinner now"  
"I'll give you a hand" Minagi said, following Sasami out of the bath-house.  
"Hard to think that someone who used to be the universes greatest space pirate would turn out to be some loud-mouth" Nagi stated. "But Ayeka isn't much better herself"  
"Your right there, its like two explosive peas in a pod, you should see the amount of damage they do to the house when they fight" Washu agreed.

Kiyone yawned, looking up at the sky.  
"You get used to it over time, this is just like eating together or coming in here to relax" She stated, stretching her arms as she tried to get comfortable.  
"So, tell me about the new boy that Mihoshi was dragging out of the closet. I don't remember seeing him with you girls before" Nagi said, getting away from talk about Ryoko.

The other girls were all silent, not really sure how to explain Matthews presence at the house in full themselves.  
"We don't really know much about him" Mihoshi spoke up "But he's from an alternate reality, which sounds really cool"  
"And with some odd twist of fate, it happens to be that Matthew has the same gems that Ryoko uses to fight with" Washu added.  
"More gems? I'm surprised Ryoko hasn't tried to nab them for more power" Nagi said, imagining how vicious Ryoko could be.  
"Well, my research show that when those gems are used at the same time as Ryoko's gems, she would be able to amplify her powers exponentially. Either way, she could be dangerous if she had the gems here"  
"Well" Kiyone said, getting into the conversation "I don't think that Ryoko has been after the gems in a long time Washu"  
"Well, I guess your right, but you can never be too careful"

* * *

"You ok Matthew?" Tenchi asked as he saw the only other man in the house, laying down on a sofa.  
"Ugh… I think Washu may be insane" Matt replied in discomfort.  
"Oh, was she experimenting on you? That's Washu alright"  
"Anything else I should know about these people"  
"Not really, except that Ayeka and Sasami are princess' from Jurai"  
"God help me, this is a really weird place"  
"Don't worry about it, you get past all the facts, and see the girls for what they are"

Matt shrugged his shoulders, turning over onto his stomach, still a little tired. Tenchi just grinned, knowing he'd get used to it sooner or later.

"Oh, hi Tenchi!" Sasami said cheerfully as she opened up the door, Minagi following behind with a basket of carrots, Ryo-ohki laying on-top of them.  
"Hey Sasami" Tenchi replied, walking by them to put his shoes on.  
"Oh, could you get some more carrots from the fields? Were getting low in the storage room"  
"Yeah, no problem"

Tenchi waved before heading out, closing the door behind him. Sasami and Minagi made their way through to the kitchen as Ryo-Ohki jumped off the basket, with a couple of carrots in tow.  
Spotting Ken-Ohki sitting by the window, Ryo-Ohki hopped over to the other cabbit, mewing softly to get his attention.

Hearing a collective group of mews, Matt sat up, noticing the pair of cabbits conversing as they munched away on a carrot each. A moment later, Ryo-Ohki hopped away, before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"What the?" Matt said, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.  
The smoke cleared as quickly as it appeared, leaving a small girl in Ryo-Ohki's place. Ken-Ohki looked at her as well, mewing erratically at her before they both ran towards Washu's lab.

"I need a drink" Matt said to himself, getting up and heading into the kitchen.

* * *

"Hmm, how can that woman do so much damage, you'd think that the greatest genius in the universe could keep a galaxy police officer of her lab" Washu muttered to herself, watching some of her inventions moving around the lab, cleaning up the mess from earlier. "Mihoshi will always be one of life's greatest mysteries"

Sighing, she walked through the lab, a small monitor floating beside her.

"Well, at least all my data survived, now lets see what we've got here; seems to be normal, no dives in the metaphysical levels, if it wasn't for those gems, I'd swear he was just an average boy" Washu spoke out as she walked by vast tubes filled with her collection of creatures "Wait a moment" she stopped, looking at a certain part of the charts.  
"A relapse in the visual membrane, but its not following his brainwaves; very interesting"

Washu sat down just as her seat phased in behind her, along with her computer. She typed away quickly, matching the data in a few moments.  
"Interesting, it has the same pattern as an old piece of visual data, lets have a look"

Bringing up the file, the screen was filled with a black void, the wind could be heard blowing in the background. Someone walked through the darkness, their footsteps being heard on the hard road.

"Where are you going?" Washu spoke out, trying to figure out the location.

The image started to clear as a familiar site came into view, Ryoko's cave could be seen as the person moved forward, heading inside, the screen flickered, loosing the image again as someone could be heard in the background.  
"Why do I keep coming here?"

"Well, this is odd, the visual memory is a part of Ryoko's data banks; what is it doing in Matthews memory files? Something else to do with those gems?" Washu wondered, before she began typing up some data, unaware of the two Cabbits making their way over to her.

* * *

"Tenchi?" Katsuhito called out as he entered the Masaki house, he thought it was odd that the house had been pretty quiet today, he hadn't heard any explosions, yet, and the house was still in one piece.

"He's working in the fields" Matthew said, back in his position on the sofa, attempting to understand the writing in the Japanese magazines that had been left on the table.  
"Oh, I see" the old man replied "So, you are our new guest then? The one that can use Ryoko's gems"  
"Yeah, that's right, but I can only use the power that's in my own gems"  
"I see, that is interesting" Yosho turned around, making his way back out of the house, deciding to pay Tenchi a visit later.

Matt sighed, putting the magazine down before getting up and heading outside himself.

* * *

"So this is what you have as the regulation spacecraft in the galaxy police?" Nagi asked as she walked around Yagami's interior, currently looking at the star drive.  
"That's right, they took the original B-class transports from planet Nirkoli and gave them an upgrade for us" Kiyone replied, as she quickly checked the energy levels for the engines.

Mihoshi walked along with Nagi as she continued to walk about the ship, she was enjoying the new company around the house.  
"Do you think you'll be staying long Nagi?" Mihoshi asked with a smile on her face.  
"Well, I guess I could stay for a few days, I don't have any real goals now that Ryoko isn't on the bounty list anymore" Nagi replied, stopping to look at one of the computers mainframes.  
"Oh that's great, I'm sure you'll have lots of fun while you're here"

Kiyone sighed as she walked over to the other girls, listening to Mihoshi as she went on about what they could do while Nagi's here.  
"Kiyone?" Nagi spoke up, interrupting Mihoshi.  
"Yes"  
"Is there anyone after that new guy"  
"W-what do you mean?" Kiyone asked, blushing a little at the question.  
"Well, Tenchi seems to be the centre of attention to all the girls"  
"Except for Kiyone, she doesn't seem to be interested in Tenchi at all" Mihoshi butted in, grinning as Kiyone frowned a little.  
"I don't think anyone does, although Minagi may be interested in him, to find out about the alternate version of her" Kiyone said, quickly pushing Mihoshi forward. "Anyway, I'll show you the bridge now"  
"But Kiyone!" Mihoshi pleaded, wanting to continue the conversation.  
"Later Mihoshi, later"

Nagi grinned, before following the detectives.  
"This going to be interesting"

* * *

"So, are you sure you want me to do this? I may take a lot of energy from you Ryo-Ohki" Washu asked, looking at the pair of Cabbits as they sat in front of her, a small device above each of them.  
"Mreow, Mya!" Ryo-Ohki piped up cheerfully.  
"Alright, just sit still"

Washu walked over to one of the terminals, tapping in a few commands before watching Ryo and Ken-Ohki, a little intrigued with how this would turn out herself.  
The machines above the Cabbits buzzed to life, glowing with energy before a small beam of light shone down on Ryo-Ohki, drawing out various structure codes and transferring them into Ken-Ohki.

"Mya?" KenOhki mewed to Washu, watching the machine turn off.  
"Well, everything seems fine, you'll just have to test it for yourself" Washu replied, pressing a button to make the machine disappear into the floor. "Now, if you excuse me, I have an experiment to perform"

* * *

"Where did Ken-Ohki get off to?" Nagi asked, looking around the lounge as Kiyone and Mihoshi followed her inside.  
"He was in here a few minutes ago with Ryo-Ohki" Sasami replied from her spot in front of the T.V "I haven't seen either of them since then"  
"Alright then, I suppose he wont get lost if he's with Ryo-Ohki"

Nagi sat down on one of the sofa's, relaxing a little before hearing a familiar cry.  
"Mya!" a little boy shouted out, jumping onto Nagi's lap, hugging her happily.  
"W-wha? Who's this?" Nagi asked, picking the child up off her lap and looking at him.  
"Mya!" the boy replied, before pointing to the gem on his forehead.  
"K-Ken-Ohki"  
"Mroew!" Ken-Ohki nodded, his long grey hair bouncing up and down. He looked just like Ryo-Ohki did, only with grey fur instead of brown, he wore a small pair of shorts and a t-shirt with a carrot on it.  
"How did you"  
"That would be thanks to me" Washu said.

She walked out from her lab, surveying the room before looking at Nagi.  
"It was Ryo-Ohki's idea, she wanted him to have a humanoid form, so I transferred a small portion of her D.N.A into Ken-Ohki" Washu paused as Ryo-Ohki ran over in her humanoid, hopping onto the sofa, next to Nagi. "I think it went quite well"  
"Aww, he looks so cute" Mihoshi cooed, picking up Ken-Ohki and hugging him.  
"Oh. Let me hold him!" Sasami said, joing the crowd as they surrounded Ken-Ohki.

Washu grinned, before getting down to business.  
"Anyway, where's Matthew and my girls?" she asked, seeing how none of them were present.  
"I'm just in here Washu" Minagi called out from the kitchen "Matthew went out a little while before Nagi got in"  
"Ryoko's probably still in still the onsen, fighting with Ayeka" Kiyone said bluntly, sitting down and watching the T.V.  
"Alright, guess I'll look for Matt first, I think I know where he'll be" Washu said, before leaving the house.

* * *

Matt stood outside Ryoko's cave, not really sure why he was there.  
"I thought this place was just in my dreams; but, how did I know where to find it?" He said to himself, slowly entering the cave. "Don't know why I'm drawn to this place, everything looks ancient"  
"There is a reason for everything, you'll find an answer soon enough Matt" Washu said from behind Matt, scaring him a little as he quickly turned around.  
"W-where did you come from?" Matt shouted out, pointing at her erratically.  
"You'll find that out soon enough, but right now, its getting late, you should get some rest"  
"Alright, I suppose I could do with a nap"

Washu grinned, taking Matt's hand and taking him back to the house.  
"By the way; have you ever had any visions when you've been wearing those gloves?" Washu asked as they made their way along the forest path.  
"No, not really, why do you ask"  
"Oh nothing, just thinking about something" Washu said, remembering back to the vision of Tsunami and two other women.

* * *

"Hey everyone" Matthew said as he and Washu walked into the living room, seeing everyone else watching T.V.  
"Where were you?" Sasami asked, getting up to greet them.  
"Nowhere, just looking around"  
"Ok, you want anything to eat"  
"No thanks, I'm going to call it a night anyway"

Washu walked towards her lab, opening the door quietly.  
"I'm going to bed myself, goodnight" She said closing the door behind her.  
"Yeah, I guess we should all get some sleep now" Tenchi said, getting up from his spot between Ryoko and Ayeka.  
"Um, where am I going to sleep?" Nagi asked, before all the other members of the house looked at each other, knowing they were short on space.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the far reaches of space, in her own part of the galaxy, Tokimi watched over the events of the house.  
"Well, it seems that my dear sister is becoming aware of her past, I wonder why it came so suddenly?"

She studied the memories of Washu carefully, stopping at one particular point in time.  
"Those gems, they must be a key to her past; then perhaps I should make sure that she is drawn to the gems again"  
"Should I send 'him' my lady?" D3 said as he appeared, looking at the image of a large man.  
"Yes, once he comes in contact with the gems, he should bring Washu into using them herself"

* * *

Nagi lay down on one of the sofas, Matt on the couch opposite her.  
"Matt? You still awake?" she asked quietly.  
"No, get some sleep" he replied, keeping his eyes closed as she looked at him.

She turned onto her side, resting her head on her hand "Do you mind if I ask you a question"  
"Shh, sleeping" Matt replied, still laying still.  
"Do you think it's a little strange here?"

Matt opened his eyes, glancing at her for a moment, before looking at the ceiling.  
"Little may be an understatement" He said bluntly, closing his eyes again "Some of the people here are a little over the top, or mad in some way"  
"Yes, I though Ryoko might be nice when you get past the Space-Pirate side of her, but I guess she's just short-tempered no matter what"  
"Is that all for now"  
"Yes, goodnight Matt"  
"Goodnight Nagi"

* * *

Authors corner - My lord, these past 2 months were tough, writers block, work, training courses and lack of computer use.  
Damns his brother and his love of Ragnorok

Expect to see our first real enemy in the next update, whenever that is at the moment.

Couple of reviews this week.  
Laughing - Glad your enjoying it so far, its nice to get a complement on my attempts at having a laugh.  
Hagancameron - Again, glad you like the story, I am trying to make the chapters longer, but I cant say anything on relationships just yet.

Well, till next time peeps! Keep on watching for an update in the, hopefully, near-future!


	10. Darkfox cometh

On the bridge of a Galaxy Police battle cruiser, officers were running around in a rush to get to battle stations.  
"Sir! The Injustice has been spotted coming out of warp space, it will be coming into range in five minutes!" A cadet said from his spot, facing the captain.  
"Alright, prepare to open fire when they are in range. Try to target weapons and engines only, HQ wants this guy alive!" the captain ordered, as the readings came through to his terminal.  
"Yes sir! I'll inform the other ships now sir!"

--------------------

"Master Darkfox, the Galaxy Police appear to be waiting for us" An officer on the Injustice's bridge commented as she looked over to her captain.

Darkfox, a large, well-built man stood at his spot on the bridge looked at the main screen, showing five ships waiting for them.  
Brushing his silver hair out of his face, he grinned, taking his seat.  
"Prepare the new weapons our benefactor has supplied us with. If this stuff is as good as they promised, we'll get to have some fun." he said, something familiar about the way he spoke.  
"Yes master, charging the disruption fields now" another member of the bridge replied, busy putting in the commands.

--------------------

"All ships are ready to take your commands sir, just give the word." one of the GP officers said as she opened up a communication link to all the other battle ships.  
"Alright then, prepare to fire on my mark, target their main weapons array" the captain spoke out, receiving a group of replies.  
The members of the bridge watched in silence as the Injustice came closer, towering over their ships.  
"Fire now!" The captain ordered, watching as the ships cannons came to life, firing dead on at the Injustice. The lasers struck with a powerful blow, creating a cloud of dust before them, as it cleared a thin layer of blue energy could be seen dissipating, before the Injustice came back into full view, completely unchanged.

"Sir, the weapons didn't make contact! They were stopped just before impact!" On officer said, rushing to retrieve data from the weapon systems.  
"Looks like they have a new weapon with them, try and analyse the ship, see if you can find out what that was!" the captain replied, looking at the Injustice silently, as it floated patiently before them.

--------------------

"Well, that went better then expected, the disruptor powerful if it can withstand the fire of the galaxy police cannons." Darkfox remarked. "Is the other weapon ready?" One of his officers turned around, nodding.

"It's just finished charging now master, it's ready to fire on your order" one of the crew members replied.  
"Good, fire at all the ships, just leave one ship standing long enough to send out an emergency signal"  
"Yes master, firing now"

The Injustice's cannon came to life, a single laser being fired at one of the ships, before being turned, going through the other four ships.  
The battle cruisers were all covered in smoke, before each ship began to explode, pieces of each ship being strewn across space.

"One ship has been left intact master, it is rapidly loosing life support and its systems are all failing. They are sending out an emergency beacon." an officer commented.  
"Good, leave them be, they will be dead before any help can arrive" Darkfox commanded, standing up so he could retire to his quarters. "Prepare a course for the planet earth, our benefactor wants us to retrieve something for her."

The crew faced their master, bowing to him, before continuing their work. Darkfox went over to one of the female crew-members, placing a hand on her shoulder.  
"Run a check on our new weapons, then come to my chambers, I want to enjoy myself before we arrive at our destination." He beckoned, before walking away, leaving through one of the doorways.

--------------------

"Morning Tenchi" Nagi said quietly as she watched him come down into the lounge. It was early in the Masaki house-hold, it was a change for someone to be up before Sasami.  
"Oh, good morning, your up early" Tenchi replied, before Nagi motioned for him to lower his voice. She proceeded to point to the opposite sofa, where Matt was still sleeping.  
"Oh I see" Tenchi said, in a hushed tone. "So why are you up"  
"No reason, I don't really sleep that much anyway, probably because of all my long days of tracking down bounty heads" she said, moving a little to give Tenchi space to sit down next to her. "What about you"  
"Oh, I guess I just had a lot on my mind, thinking about things that have been happening ever since these girls arrived. We've really been through a lot"  
"I guess you must be pretty close to them, right"  
"Yeah, were almost like one big family" Tecnhi said, smiling as he spoke.  
"Sounds nice, I wish I could have something like that, it's just been me and Ken-Ohki for as long as I can remember" Nagi replied, closing her eyes as she leaned back on the sofa.

"Mmm" Matt groaned as he rolled over in his sleep, turning away from the other two.  
"I'm surprised Tenchi, you live here with all those girls upstairs, but you don't go out with any of them?" Nagi questioned him, sliding a little closer to him.  
"W-what do you mean?" Tenchi replied, stuttering a little.  
"Well, surely you must like one of the girls"  
"I guess I never really thought about that, I haven't really gave myself the time to really get to know them all"  
"Well" Nagi started, as she slid herself right into Tenchi, their bodies gently connecting. "I'm sure that a young man like yourself would be open to trying new things"  
Tenchi blushed as she drew him closer, taking him by the back of his head and slowly bringing their lips closer. She smiled seductively at him, stopping as they were close enough to feel each others breath.  
"Kiss me Tenchi" she whispered, closing her eyes as she waited for him to make the final move.  
Tenchi was bright red, he was shocked by how forward Nagi was, she made Ryoko's playful manner seem gentle.  
"I-I should go, I have to get ready for today" Tenchi said, quickly pulling himself away and making his way to the bathroom.  
Nagi sighed, laying back down with a grin on her face.  
"Oh well, maybe another time Tenchi…"

--------------------

Everything was quiet in Kiyone and Mihoshi's room, the officers were sleeping peacefully in their futons, until.

"WHAA!" Mihoshi cried out as her and Kiyone's watches started to beep rapidly, as she cried out, she sat up looking around for her watch.  
Kiyone, on the other hand, rubbed her eyes before she got up and picked their watches up, turning them off before check what was going on.  
"K-kiyone? Was that the distress signal?" Mihoshi asked, still half-asleep as she spoke. She got out of her futon, wearing nothing but an open shirt and her underwear, going over the kneel down by Kiyone, who was similarly dressed.  
"Yeah, the data's coming through right now" she said , yawning after her sentence.

An image flickered to life above the watch, with the GP logo swirling around. A monotonous voice came on after a moment.  
"This is a first class emergency message from the battle cruiser Ingachi" the robotic voice spoke out, before a sound file started up.  
"This is captain Arinas, of the galaxy police. Our ship is heavily damaged and we are loosing life support rapidly. There were another four battle cruisers, but they were destroyed, were all that's left." the voice rang out, obviously in a state of distress.  
"Captain, we just lost integrity on decks eleven through twenty-nine, deck thirty and below have lost all power" another voice called out.  
"Put all power on decks one through ten into life support and shields"  
"Yes sir"  
"You have to hurry" the captain's voice spoke out again. "We don't have much longer. We were attacked by the Injustice, which was believed to be run by the space pirate Darkfox."

The message went silent for a moment, before the automated message came back to life.  
"This message was sent out five hours ago, according to earth time. The Injustice was making its way towards earth at this time. At maximum speed, it will arrive in fifteen hours" the voice said before the watch went silent.

"That was the ship we were looking out for a few days ago, but why is he coming to earth?" Kiyone thought out loud.  
"Oh no! Maybe he's after Ayeka and Sasami!" Mihoshi cried out, starting to get a little emotional. "We should warn them"  
"Mihoshi, wait!" Kiyone ordered, but it was too late, Mihoshi was already up and heading towards their door.

--------------------

Meanwhile, Matthew had been awoken when Mihoshi had cried out earlier. Curious about what was going on, he was busy making his way to her room, mumbling as he went on.  
"Damn Mihoshi, waking me up at this hour. What does she think she's doing shouting at a time like this? I was having a good nap too. I'm hungry, I'll make myself a snack later. Huh? Don't think about food right now, too busy for that" He thought. His mind drifting over random things as he stopped outside Mihoshi and Kiyone's room.

"Mihoshi?" He called out gently, hoping she could hear him without waking the others. "Mihoshi, what's going on in there? I heard a scream"  
He listened carefully, hearing Mihoshi's voice, she sounded erratic.  
"Mihoshi, is something wrong? I'm coming in, ok?"

No sooner had he opened the door, did he run straight into Mihoshi's chest, his face buried between her large tan breasts. Blushing red, he quickly stood up straight. Mihoshi on the other hand…  
"EEEK!" she cried out, slapping Matthew as she ran back into her room.  
"Mihoshi, I'm sorry! I didn't know you were-" Matthew pleaded, as the door opened again, revealing Kiyone in a dressing gown.  
"Didn't know what?" She asked, looking at Matt with a glare.  
"I heard her shout out earlier, I wanted to see what was going on. I didn't know she saw making her way to the door, especially dressed like that!"

"What's going on?" Tenchi said, as he and Nagi came into view from the stairway. Ayeka, Sasami and Minagi had all came onto the landing as well, surveying the scene.  
"It doesn't matter right now, we have a problem" Kiyone replied as Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki hopped out of Ayeka and Sasami's room.  
"Well? There must be a good reason for us all being up so early miss Kiyone" Ayeka spoke out.  
"We just received an emergency call from the galaxy police, there's a battleship making its way to earth. The leader is Darkfox, a dangerous man high up on the GP's deadliest space pirates list"  
"Why is he coming to earth?" Nagi asked as she knelt down to let Ken-Ohki jump onto her shoulder.  
"I'm not sure" Kiyone replied, unsure herself.

Mihoshi came out of her room wearing a shirt and jeans. She looked at everyone, before stopping at Matthew, who quickly looked away.  
"Well, there are plenty of reasons" Minagi said, catching everyone's attention. "Think about it, Galaxy Police, Jurai Princesses, a Bounty hunter, the once-greatest space pirate and the greatest scientist in the universe, all under one roof. It's bound to be someone here"  
"She's right, we would be a prime target if anyone knew about all the different people here" Kiyone said, before heading into her room.  
"I better get ready, we may need to stop this guy before he come to earth, we don't know what he may do to the planet" she spoke out.

She closed the door behind her, as the others looked at each other.  
"Wait, where's Ryoko?" Sasami asked, Ryo-Ohki mewing at the question.  
"Oh, she's still asleep in our room" Minagi spoke out.  
"That Ryoko! Trust her to sleep through this" Ayeka shouted out, before heading to her room to change. The others soon made their way off as well.

"Mihoshi" Matthew said softly, when all the others had gone. "I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to do that"  
"It's ok, it was just a mistake, right?" Mihoshi asked, still a little red-face from earlier.  
"O-of course it was, I wouldn't do something like that on purpose"  
"Well, that's ok I guess, but right now we need to get ready to deal with this guy"  
Mihoshi went into her room quickly, leaving Matt to make his way to Washu's lab alone in order to get his battle gear that was left in there.

--------------------

"Ok Ryo-Ohki, lets go!" Ryoko said, as she tossed the cabbit into the air, watching her transform into her ship form.  
"MREEEOW!" Ryo-Ohki called out as she floated above them.  
"Ok, you too Ken-Ohki" Nagi ordered as her cabbit jumped into the air and transformed as well.

"I'll take my ship" Minagi spoke out as the ships Hinase and Yagami appeared above the lake.  
"We shall go with Minagi" Ayeka spoke out, taking Sasami over to her. The three of them being transported onto Hinase's bridge.  
Tenchi looked over at Nagi, who gave him a sly grin, causing him to blush a little.  
"I-I'll go with Kiyone and Mihoshi" he blurted out, dashing over to them just in time to get transported onto Yagami.  
Washu smiled, taking Ryoko's arm as they phased out into Ryo-Ohki.

"Well, I guess that just leaves us then" Nagi stated as the other ships flew off.  
"Yeah, lets get going before we miss the show" Matt said as he adjusted his suit.  
Nagi placed a hand on Matthew's shoulder, before the pair of them were transported inside Ken-Ohki.

As they appeared, Matthew knelt down, covering his mouth.  
"Ugh, that wasn't good…" He said in a muffled tone.  
"Yeah, it takes a while to get used to, it's not like the normal teleportation systems" Nagi said before taking her seat by one of the crystals. "Lets get moving."

--------------------

"Little Ryoko?" Washu spoke out, breaking the silence inside Ryo-Ohki.  
"Hmm"  
"Have you ever had any, visions"  
"What do you mean?" Ryoko asked, turning to look at her mother.  
"When I was testing Matt's gems, I saw images of Tsunami and two other women. As I saw them, I felt something familiar, like I knew them from somewhere" Washu said, revealing the dreams that were constantly on her mind.  
"I cant say I've had any visions like that. But that sounds weird"  
"It is, I don't know why it bothers me, I should be able to figure out what it means"  
"Well you are the greatest scientist in the universe" Ryoko stated, guessing what Washu would say.  
"I am the greatest-" Washu paused, looking at her daughter, who grinned before turning back to check on the other ships. "I should have seen that coming"

Washu sat down, as she typed away at her computer, a message popping up all of a sudden.  
"Hmm? What's this?" Washu said to herself as multiple sets of data came into view.  
She looked at the information carefully, before reaching into her pocket.  
"Good thing I kept hold of these" She said "What?" Ryoko turned around again, seeing Matthew's gloves resting in Washu's hand. "Wouldn't it have been a good idea to let Matt have those before we left"  
"Not really, Matthew's body cant handle all the power inside the gems. Tenchi could control it, but that was because he's part Juraian." Washu paused, as she read more of the data.  
"For Matt, the gems cant create a full cycle due to a lack of a large power source within his body, so instead of being able to provide him with great power, these gems have been draining his energy away, bit by bit. That's why his astromental level were low, because he cant handle the power of the gems"  
Ryoko sighed, before floating over to Washu's side.  
"What does that mean? What if he keeps on using them?" She asked, looking at the data on the screen.  
"It could do some serious damage to his body and mind, or even worse, they could kill him…"

--------------------

Kiyone was putting in commands at her terminal, Mihoshi was just as busy, checking the ships data to make sure they had enough power in the ships core.  
"You were in a hurry to join us Tenchi" Kiyone stated, spinning around on her chair to face him. "Was there something wrong"  
"N-no, not really" Tenchi said, as he stood there by the door, waiting patiently.  
"What about you and Matthew earlier, what was that about?" Tenchi replied.  
"It was nothing, just an accident!" Mihoshi blurted out, before going back to her work.

Kiyone looked at Tenchi, before turning around to continue her own work.  
"It's probably best we don't talk about that right now" Kiyone said. "We'll be in the Injustices path soon anyway"

--------------------

"Master" a member of the Injustice spoke out from the entrance to his personal quarters.  
"What is it? I'm busy right now" Darkfox spoke out in the distance, the voice coming from his sleeping quarters.  
"There are a small number of ships coming out way"  
"And?" He shouted out, before coming into view, half-naked and showing off his toned body.  
"W-well" the woman spoke out, blushing at the sight of her master in undress. "One of the ships belongs to the legendary space pirate Ryoko, she appears to be travelling with them on a path towards us"  
"Ryoko? Ah, this will be a worth test of our battle systems! Have everyone take their positions"  
"Yes master" she replied, bowing just before she left.

Darkfox went back to his quarters, looking at the member of the crew he had beckoned to his bed earlier, who was awaiting him under the covers.  
"We shall finish this later, get dressed and report for duty." he commanded as he took hold of his black jacket and slipped it on. "The real fun is about to begin"

--------------------

"There it is, the battleship Injustice" Kiyone spoke out through the intercom linked with the other ships.  
Their target loomed overhead, its size dwarfing their ships.  
"I don't like this sis" Sasami could be heard.  
"It's ok Sasami, Minagi will keep us safe" Ayeka responded.  
The four ships floated in place, waiting as the Injustice drew itself closer, stopping the moment it came within audio range.  
"Ahem" Mihoshi coughed gently as the intercom linked up to the enemy ship. "This is the galaxy police! You have been charged with the attacks on galaxy police vessels and you are under arrest! Come in quietly and there will be no trouble!"

Silence filled the air as they waited for a response.  
"Maybe they cant hear us" Tenchi said, watching carefully"  
"Maybe" Kiyone replied "Or maybe they don't want to lis"  
"Look out!" Washu shouted through the intercom as a laser was fired at Yagami.

Kiyone took the controls, forcing Yagami's engine to fire upwards, moving out of the way just in time to dodge the blast.  
"That was, too close" Kiyone gasped, catching her breath as she looked back at the Injustice "As you will not come in peacefully, we will be forced to take you in by force!" Mihoshi spoke out again, before a voice boomed back at them.

"This is Lord Darkfox of the Injustice, you are severely outclassed. If you do not wish to be harmed turn over Washu and Tsunami to me, I will give you time to make your decision." the voice beckoned mercilessly.

"Well, he sound's pleasant" Minagi spoke out sarcastically.  
"But Sasami and Washu? Why you? It sounds like an odd pair of targets if you ask me" Ayeka added, looking at the images of the others on the intercom.  
"It doesn't matter either way" Ryoko said sternly "That guy wont be taking anyone away!"

With that Ryo-Ohki opened fire on the Injustice, flying to the ships side. The others followed on, taking shots at the enemy.

--------------------

"Why do they bother?" Darkfox spoke aloud, watching the ships as they fired multiple volleys of laser at his ship.  
"Desperation perhaps master? Maybe the emergency beacon had no information on our shields" one of the crew said, proposing one of the many reasons.  
"Perhaps, how is the disruptor field holding"  
"The laser attacks are having no effect on them, its just the same as our encounter with the battle cruisers"

Darkfox grinned, as he brought up the commands for their weapon systems.  
"I'll take it from here, keep all power but life support on the disrupter fields and the weapon systems"  
"Yes master, transferring energy reserves now"  
"Good, let's see how that like this"

--------------------

The Injustice opened fire, its laser chasing after Ryo-Ohki. Ryoko made her ship duck and weave around the laser, dodging it perfectly.

"Keep up the good work Ryoko! Just don't let that thing hit us!" Washu shouted out. "That's a high frequency laser, that could tear Ryo-Ohki in two"  
"MREEOOW!" Ryo-Ohki cried out in panic, a bunch of crystals swarming over to Washu.  
"Calm down, you'll be ok. It's powerful, but its slow, as long as Ryoko keeps us moving it wont hit us"

Ryoko spun Ryo-Ohki around, flying right by the laser as she moved to the other side of the Injustice.  
"The rest of you hear that?" Ryoko shouted.

"Don't worry, we got it!" Kiyone replied. "We wont be able to do much out here while that laser's activated. We should try and get inside"  
"There" Tenchi said, pointing at the under-side of the ship. Kiyone zoomed in, spotting the docking station. "It looks like its out of their weapons range"  
"Nice work Tecnhi!" Mihoshi said happily.

Ryo-Ohki flew around keeping the laser busy as the other ships flew underneath the Injustice, breaking open the doors with a barrage of lasers.

--------------------

"What? How did they get through the disruptor field?" Darkfox shouted, standing up as he looked at the monitors.  
"It seems the disruptor field only blocks projectiles, and there is a large space between the field and the docks for the ships to get in" an officer replied.  
"Get ready for battle, try to incapacitate our targets, kill the others"  
"Yes master, the crew responded, rushing off to get their weapons"

Darkfox grinned, walking to his quarters.  
"Now, this will be fun. I always wanted to challenge the great Ryoko"

--------------------

"Everyone ok?" Nagi asked as Ken-Ohki transformed back into his cabbit form. Everyone had grouped together in the docking bay after blowing the doors open.  
"It looks like everyone's fine" Washu commented from a computer terminal as she hacked into the system. "Well, it looks like everyone is on the upper levels. A lot of them are making their way down towards us now"

Ryoko phased over to Washu, looking at the ships layout.  
"Alright, we can go through here, it looks like there's a service hatch here that will take us where we have to go" She said, pointing out her route.  
"Ok guys! Lets get moving!" Washu called out as the others began to leave the dock.

Minagi stood there with Ryo-Ohki, Ken-Ohki and Sasami, looking at Washu.  
"We'll stay here. We shouldn't let Sasami get in anymore danger then she already is"  
"Alright Minagi, be careful" Washu sad before dashing over to Matt. "Oh Matthew" she said as she smiled at him cutely.  
"Ah, w-what is it?" Matt asked as she stood just in front of him.

Washu pulled out a galaxy police class laser pistol and placed it in his hands.  
"You'll need this if your going to help" She said, giving him a serious look "But what about my gems? Why not just let me use them?" He asked, looking at the pistol.  
"They were in my lab when we left, it's too late to go back now, trust me. Ok?"

The pair rushed off after the others as Minagi sat down, waiting for them to return.  
"Be careful everyone, there's something about this I really don't like"

--------------------

Authors corner - Wow, has it really been over a month since my last update? Time seems to be flying by recently. Fortunately I have control of the computer again, but now other thinks are really going to slow down work.  
Christmas approaching means that I'll be spending time getting presents.  
A television project that I'm working on will be taking up a lot of time as well, so this will be a part-time piece for now.

Well, just a single review this time round.  
A Fan - Glad your enjoying the story. I am trying to work on Tenchi and Matt a lot more, it's just that the amount of girls tends to make it a little tougher to get through. But who know, maybe I'll work something out.

Until next time, expect to see one hell of a battle and a few twists that could lead to something more dangerous! 


	11. Victory or Defeat?

Ryoko flew ahead of the others, scouting each corridor for signs of trouble.  
"Ryoko! The service tunnel is just ahead!" Washu called out before a laser flew past her, barely missing her back. "Ahh! Look out"  
Washu dived forwards, getting caught by Ryoko as Tenchi and Nagi both ran over to them in time to dodge any lasers. 

"Idiot! Master Darkfox said to keep her alive!" one of the attackers shouted out.  
"I was aiming at the flying girl"  
"Yeah? Well your aims worse then a blind man"  
"Shut up, both of you!" A third voice spoke out.

Ryoko looked over at Kiyone and the others on her side of the opening, before phasing through the wall. Thinking quickly, Kiyone turned the corner, taking shots at each guard.  
As she distracted them, Ryoko appeared behind them, knocking each out with a precise blow.

"Hmm, this is the third group already, and they all seem to be girls" Nagi commentated as they started moving again.  
"Yeah, seems like he's got something in common with Tenchi" Matt joked  
"If only we had the time to sit and chat!" Tenchi retorted, grinning as he dashed by.

--------------------

"Do you think they're ok Minagi?" Sasami asked, she was sat down inside Hinase, with Minagi and the cabbits. Watching as Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki chatted to each other in their child-forms.  
"To be honest, I don't know Sasami. Something about this is really bothering me" Minagi replied for her seat, as she tried to decode some locate data on Darkfox.  
"What's wrong"  
"This Darkfox, theres hardly any data on him, just his crimes. It's like his life doesn't even exist"

Sasami got up, moving to Minagi's side so she could see the data herself.  
"That's weird"  
"I know, someone's something"  
"Minagi?"

Sasami looked at her, a littled worried before she continued.  
"What do you think he wants with me and Washu"  
"I'm not sure, perhaps he thinks he can control Tsunami's power by using Washu's genius" Minagi replied, before getting up from her seat and giving the princess a light hug. "But don't worry, as long as Tenchi and Ryoko are here, he'll never get what he wants"  
"I know, thank you"

Ryo-Ohki hopped over to the pair, mewing happily to get their attention.  
"What is it Ryo-Ohki?" Sasami asked, before she was pulled over to Ken-Ohki. Minagi smiled, before looking back at the data.  
"What are you hiding?"

--------------------

"Hey!" Mihoshi called out as she climbed up the service duct. "Where did Kiyone go?"

The others stopped, looking at each other before realising she wasn't the only one who was missing.  
"Matthew and Nagi have disappeared too, but they were right behind us" Ayeka stated.  
"We don't have time to look for them! If we go back, we'll be swarmed by guards!" Ryoko shouted out.  
"Ryoko! We should make sure they are ok, what if they are hurt?" Ayeka retorted, glaring at her.  
"No, she's right" Tenchi said "We have to stop Darkfox, especially if he finds out Sasami is in the docks"  
"Tenchi…" Ayeka went quiet before they started to move again.

--------------------

"How many women does this guy have on board?" Matthew shouted out as a stream of laser-fire shot through the corridor.  
"How the hell should I know?" Nagi shouted back from behind a column on the opposite side of the corridor. "There cant be that many"  
"You ok Kiyone?" Matt called out to the officer, who knelt down in front of Nagi, her pistol ready.  
"I'm fine, just get your ass over here so we can catch up with the others!" Kiyone replied. Before another barrage of lasers were fired at them.  
"But, there's to many! I'll never get over there!"

Kiyone peeked around from her spot, seeing at least eight guards. She sighed before looking back over to Matt.  
"Throw your gun over!" she ordered, before passing her own pistol to Nagi.  
"Alright, here goes!" he said, giving a quick toss over. His aim, however, wasn't perfect. As the pistol flew across, it hit Kiyone on the top of her head, knocking her back. If it wasn't for Nagi being there to catch her, she would have fell into sight of the guards.  
"You idiot!" Nagi shouted, sighing as she quickly took aim and fired at the guards, giving Matt his queue to dash over to their side.  
"I'm sorry ok! It's not like I was aiming for her head!" Matt shouted back, helping Kiyone up as they coved towards the service hatch.

After all three were in, Nagi sealed the door, before looking at Matthew.  
"Next time, aim before you throw! What if I wasn't there when you hit Kiyone?" she shouted out, before covering her mouth, knowing that the guards were just outside.

"Did you hear that?" one of the guards muffled voices spoke out through the wall.  
"Hear what? There's nothing here but us girls" another spoke out.  
"Come on you two, they couldn't have gotten far" a third interrupted them, they all left in a clutter of footsteps.

Matthew sighed, looking at the ground, he remained silent until he looked back up at Nagi.  
"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, but even then it wasn't entirely my fault!" He spoke in a hushed tone.  
"Oh come on! It's your fault you threw the gun too high!" Nagi began to talk back.  
"You got a problem"  
"No, but if you carry on like this" Nagi said threateningly, before grapping him by the rough of his jacket and pushing him against the sealed hatch.

"Ugh, my head, what happened?" Kiyone slurred as rubbed her forehead. "How did we get here"  
Nagi let go of Matthew, pushing him pack against the hatch one more time before walking over to the ladder.  
"I'll tell you on the way, right now we have to catch up with the others" Nagi ordered before she started climbing, Kiyone got up, following her. "You too Matt, we may need your help too"

There was no reply from the boy, as Nagi looked down to shout at him, she noticed that only Kiyone was there.  
"Matt?" Kiyone called out.

Back in the corridor, Matt walked along slowly, mumbling as he made his own way about the ship. Little was he aware, of the pair of guards following him silently.

--------------------

"Wow, this just keeps on going doesn't it?" Mhoshi said as she climbed up the tunnel, she'd never been on a ship this size before.  
"How much longer do we have to go Ryoko?" Ayeka called out, trying to hide her anger, it felt like they had been climbing forever.  
"Shut up, were almost there" Ryoko replied, turning back t stick her tongue out at the princess "What's the matter? Too much exercise for a princess"  
"Hey, keep it down!" Tenchi interrupted them, before continuing his climb. "At least you can float, I have to climb the whole way"  
"Want me to carry you Tenchi, darling? I'll hold you nice and tight" Ryoko teased.  
"Y-you stay away from him you hussy"  
"Girls, girls!" Washu called out. "Calm down, or at least save it for when you get back home" she spoke out.  
"Well, she started it" Ayeka said quietly.  
"Ugh, I wish I used that teleporter now" Washu spoke to herself, just loud enough for the others to hear.

Ayeka and Ryoko stopped, looking at each other before staring at the little genius.  
"Teleporter?" They both shouted out, the pair of them floating down to Washu's level.  
"Miss Washu! Why didn't you mention this earlier?" Ayeka asked her firmly, before Ryoko pushed her out the way.  
"Yeah, mom! Then we wouldn't have to put up with her complaining" she said, pointing at Ayeka.  
"Why you!"  
"Now, now Ayeka" Mihoshi said, trying to pat her on the shoulder, before taking a firm hold of the ladder in fear of falling.  
"Easy, I just wanted thought it might be better this way. Where's the challenge in just going straight to the boss?" Washu said happily "Fun?" Ryoko shouted  
"Where's the fun in this?" Ayeka added.

Tenchi sighed, before continuing to climb.  
"I wish I took the stairs" he whimpered, being forced to listen to the girls arguing.

"Hey! What are you shouting about up there?" a familiar voice called out.  
"Nagi!" Mihoshi piped up happily "And Kiyone too!" she begun to wave to them with both hands, before realising she wasn't holding onto the ladder, she quickly swung her hands in a flurry, before grabbing hold of the rails.  
"You dunce" Kiyone said as she came into view  
"Where's Matthew?" Tenchi asked, noticing the girls were alone.

Kiyone and Nagi looked at each other, before Nagi decided to answer.  
"We got separated, we didn't see which way he went" she answered. "But there's no time for that, we have business to deal with, remember"  
"Yeah, come on, the exits just up there" Ryoko spoke up, pointing upwards to the end of the shaft, which was just a minutes climb away.

--------------------

Minagi looked up from her terminal all of a sudden, she quickly glanced around trying to see what had disturbed her work.  
"Mreow?" Ken-Ohki mewed out from next to her.  
"I-I don't know, something just gave me a chill all over"

Sasami and Ryo-Ohki walked over to the others, wondering what was going on.  
"Minagi?" Sasami asked, worrying about her friend. She reached out placing a hand on Minagi's arm.  
"We have to get to the others Sasami" Minagi said suddenly, making the little princess jump a little. "I just felt like something bad just happened, I think the others are in trouble"

Sasami nodded, before looking at Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki.  
"Ok then you two, lets get ready to go!" she said in a serious tone, before grabbing one of the braids in her hair and pulling it out, letting one side of her hair loose. The braids quickly expanded into a large, thin staff.  
"Sasami?" Minagi said, looking at the girl.  
"Don't worry, grandma Misaki showed me how to protect myself, and if your there too, I wont have to worry"

Minagi smiled, before standing up and forming her energy beam.  
"Alright then, lets go help the others!" Minagi said before they all rushed out of Hinase, making their way out of the docking bay.

--------------------

"Master Darkfox, we have a guest for you" a guard said as she moved from between some columns. Darkfox was sat in a large dome, space could be seen above them in what seemed like a large garden.  
"You captured one of our targets?" He asked, as he leaned back, relaxing in his seat.  
"No master, but it seems that a friend of yours was travelling with them"

Signalling to a pair of other guards, Darkfox grinned as they brought an unconscious Matthew into view.  
"Well, I didn't know Mathias knew the space pirate Ryoko, this is quite interesting" Darkfox spoke out, pressing a button to form a chair in front of his. "Bring him over here, I think I'll chat with him until we have those girls captured.  
"Ooh, that hurt" Matt said as he woke up, before looking around. "Wow, nice place"  
"I'm glad you think so" Darkfox said, catching Matt's attention. "You may leave us now" he motioned to the guards, waiting until they bowed and left.  
"So, your Darkfox?" Matt asked as he watched the man get up.  
"What, have you forgot about me so soon?"

Matthew looked at him, before remembering that in this universe, he was meant to be a space-pirate. He never imagined that he could have known someone like this guy.  
"Oh, of course not" Matt lied, trying to sound as genuine as he could. "That bump to the head must of confused me a little, that's all"  
"Ah good, but tell me, what are you doing flying around with the space-pirate Ryoko?" Darkfox asked as he sat back down.  
"Don't you mean ex-space pirate"  
"Oh, I didn't know that, how long has she been away from crime"  
"I'm not sure, long enough apparently"  
"So, she's became weak then, all this time away from the game"

Matthew got up, reaching into his back-pocket, before he remembered that he had lost the pistol Washu gave him after he threw it at Kiyone.  
"Something wrong?" Darkfox asked as he watched the boy fidgetting.  
"No, nothing at all"

Taking his place behind his seat, Matthew took a firm hold of its back, he knew that he'd have to act now, before Darkfox discovered the truth.  
Without a moments hesitation, Matthew tossed the chair up, flinging it straight at Darkfox, but before he could start to move in, Darkfox had hit the seat out of the way and was right in front him.  
"Now that wasn't nice" Darkfox said, almost in a calm tone as he grabbed Matthew by the neck, lifting him off the ground. "Did you go good too, or did one of those people do something to you?"

"Let go of him!" Tenchi shouted out, activating the Master key as he and the others came into view, all of them ready for battle.  
"Ah good, I was waiting for the action to begin" Darkfox grinned, to Tenchi, before facing Matthew again. "I'll deal with you later" He then flung Matthew aside, drawing his blade to face the others.

--------------------

"Mya?" Ryo-Ohki mewed out as she wondered the halls in her cabbit form, spotting a pair of guards.  
"Whats that?" One guard said, pointing over to the little creature, before they both made their way over. Looking at Ryo-Ohki, it was only a matter of time until.

"Aww, its so cute!" the guard said as she knelt down to pick Ryo-Ohki up. "How did you get in here"  
"I don't think the master will let us keep him" the other guard stated flatly, just before the cabbit began to sniff at the first guards gun.  
"Oh, you cant eat that, its not good for you"  
"Mreow?" Ryo-Ohki looked at the guard, before biting into the rifle, taking a huge chunk out of it.

Before either guard could react, Minagi struck both of them at the back of the neck, knocking them out.  
"Ok, we got them" Minagi called out. Sasami quickly came into view, with Ken-Ohki on her shoulder.  
"Hehe, how many is that now Minagi?" Sasami asked, as she surpressed a giggle.  
"I think that's the fifth group now. This just keeps on getting better"  
"I think that second group was the best, the way they all freaked out and tried to run" Sasami finally let out a laugh.

Minagi looked around, spotting an express elevator.  
"Ah, here we go. Come on Sasami, not long now"  
"Ok, come on you two, were almost there!" Sasami called out to the cabbits, who were quick to chase after the princess.

--------------------

"Yah!" Tenchi shouted out as he lunged at Darkfox, swinging his blade at the mans arm. Darkfox was quick to raise his blade and block Tenchi's attack.  
"Is that all? If that is all you can put into an attack, you wont even hit me" Darkfox smirked as he forced Tenchi back, before swinging his own blade, Tenchi blocked it just as easily, parrying the attack and kicking Darkfox's face, knocking him away.

"Well" Darkfox said flatly, wiping some blood from his lip before standing up, "Perhaps you do have a little more skill then I thought, too bad your here with my target"

Matthew had just sat back up, Darkfox had taken a lot out of him from that single throw, his vision was blurred, but he could make out the mound of pink hair in front of him.  
"Washu?" he spoke out, before he let out a cry of pain when he tried to move.  
"It's ok Matt, that guy just knocked you about a bit. Why didn't you come with us?" She asked him, showing her concern.  
"I, I don't want to say"

Matthew tried to make sure that the issue with Nagi didn't come up. He tried to get up again, only to feel every part of his body ache.  
"Well don't do it again, some of us were worried about you" she scolded him, before helping him stand upright.

"Wahh!" Tenchi shouted out as he got flung across the large room. Darkfox lower his leg, before frowning.  
"Well, I guess I'm too good for you after all" he boasted, until Ryoko flew at him, punching him in the gut and knocking him to the opposite side of the room.  
"You leave Tenchi alone!" Ryoko shouted, forming her energy beam.  
"Ahh, the space-pirate finally wants to battle, excellent" Darkfox said as he got back up, holding his blade ready.

Ryoko frowned, before dashing as her opponent. Darkfox was quick, but not quick enough for Ryoko, in a flash, she was at his side, swing her beam into Darkfox's chest.  
"Ah, that energy" he blurted out, before dropping to his knee's "So, familiar" as he fell to the ground, memories once locked away began to come to him.

Ryoko let her energy beam dissipate, before she flew over to Tenchi.  
"How was that Tenchi? Do I get a reward for helping you?" she smiled, hoping to get a kiss out of him.  
"I have to admit, for an old monster such as yourself, you did well Ryoko" Ayeka interrupted, getting between the two.  
"Old monster?" Ryoko shouted out.

"Those girls will never learn" Washu said from Matthew's side, smiling at how strong her daughter was.  
"Y-yeah, they really are something else" Matt agreed, watching Ryoko and Ayeka as they began bickering. "W-wait!" he shouted, pointing at Darkfox.

Ryoko turned around, a look of shock on her face as she saw him.  
"How the hell, that blow should have killed him" she shouted.  
"Now Ryoko, you really think a small attack like that is enough to kill me, of all people" Darkfox said, grinning evilly as his wound quickly regenerated. He held his arm out, forming an energy beam of his own.  
"That's Kagato's blade!" Washu stated.

Darkfox grinned, looking at Washu as Ryoko dashed at him again, only for her attack to be blocked with ease.  
"Kagato is nothing more then a fraction of my memory, I hold all of his power, but I am much stronger" Darkfox gloated, before facing Ryoko.  
"A clone? I should have felt it sooner" Ryoko hissed, before drawing back.  
"I am more then just a mere clone, your gems awoke my true power, and now I will be taking Washu and Tsunami with me"  
"No, I will not allow it!" Ayeka shouted, before dashing at Darkfox, trying to hit him. Unfortunately, he blocked her attack with a powerful barrier, forcing her back.

"We have to do something!" Tenchi said to Nagi, before they both rushed at Darkfox, both with their blades ready to fight him.

--------------------

"Ahh, oh no" Sasami let out as she backed up against the elevator wall.  
"Sasami, what's wrong?" Minagi asked as she knelt down by the girl.  
"Kagato, Kagato is here!" Sasami cried out as the doors opened to the large room where the fight was taking place.  
"Come on, you cant stay in there, Kiyone and Mihoshi are right there" Minagi pointed over to the galaxy police detectives.

Taking hold of Sasami, Minagi gentally pulled her out of the elevator, setting her down against the wall.  
"You keep an eye on her ok" Minagi ordered to the cabbits, who mewed in response.

"Kiyone, what's happening?" Minagi asked as she got to her side, startling the detective a little.  
"W-what are you doing here? You should have stayed in the docks with Sasami" Kiyone replied, as she quickly glanced at the battle, watching Darkfox as he took on four people at once and had the upper hand.  
"Don't worry, Sasami's fine, we both agreed to come up here"  
"Right, well things aren't looking good, Ryoko just took this guy down, but he just got back up, as if nothing had happened, only he's stronger now. They cant even hit him"

"Look out!" Mihoshi shouted, just as she saw Nagi get kicked towards them. Minagi quickly flew forward, catching the bounty hunter.  
"Ahh, thanks" Nagi said as she was let down, rubbing her sore back. "This guy is tough, he makes Ryoko seem like a wuss"  
"I heard that!" Ryoko shouted as she pushed the offensive, trying to hit dark fox, but to no avail. He continued to match everyone blow for blow, it felt like he was just playing with them.

"Mihoshi, Kiyone, Seep an eye on Sasami, I'm going to help!" Minagi ordered as she created her energy beam and flew into the battle, Nagi trying to catch up to her.

As Minagi flew in, she almost Darkfox off guard, as she swung her blade, it missed him by just an inch, before swiping again and hitting his sword.  
"What's this? Ryoko has a sister?" Darkfox said before forcing her back to block an attack from Tenchi. "Perhaps this mission has some worth to me as well"  
"Agh, you leave her alone!" Tenchi shouted and he let his blade back, going low to try and sweep their opponent off of his feet. Darkfox quickly jumped into the air, only for Ayeka to dash at him, he was able to create a force field in time to stop her, but the force of her attack sent his flying into one of the columns around the room.  
"Well, I can see how weak you all are now, five of you against me and you only manage one hit, I'm ashamed, I suppose I should just get rid of all of you"

Ryoko looked at him, letting her blade dissipate.  
"You always were an arrogant bastard Kagato, but I'll make sure you die before you try anything!" she hissed at him, before forming an energy ball in her hand and throwing it at him. As it hurtled towards him, she flew after it, expecting him to deflect the ball away.  
"Do you really think that will work against me Ryoko?" He said in a passive tone, rushing at the ball and slicing through it, before clashing blades with the space pirate. "You really have grown weak"  
In the blink of an eye, he forced her back and kicked her to the other side of the room, watching as she flew between two columns and hit the wall.

"Ryoko!" Nagi shouted out, before she ran at Darkfox, who had just landed on the floor. The others rushed in as she jumped into the air, forcing her blade down at her target.  
"What makes you think you stand a chance?" Darkfox said as he stepped to the side, letting her blade smack against the floor and hitting her at the back of neck, knocking her out.

Tenchi and Minagi were next, both charged at him, blades thrust forward. Darkfox swung his blade out, missing Minagis blade but catching Tenchi's, he then forced the blade back, flinging Tenchi into a column, and connecting with Minagi's blade.  
"Don't you dare touch her!" Ryoko shouted as she dashed at him again, forcing Ayeka to divert her own attack, taking the opportunity to fly by him and grab Nagi, taking her over to Mihoshi and Kiyone.

Ryoko tried to strike Darkfox, but he was to quick, he grabbed Minagi by her throat as he brought his blade up, striking her in the side and flinging her back into a column, forcing it to crash down ontop of her.  
"Now, I think you could be very valuable to me, when I'm done with Washu and Tsunami, you shall become my slave and do my bidding"

--------------------

"This is no use, if Ryoko cant do anything to him its over" Ayeka said as she tried to comfort Sasami.  
"It's hard to think this guy is a clone of Kagato, how come we never knew?" Kiyone said to herself as she watched on.

"Minagi!" Sasami cried out as she saw Darkfox grabbing hold of her and holding her in the air.  
"Oh no, what are we going to do?" Ayeka said before seeing Ryoko get up holding the column above her.

--------------------

Ryoko heaved the column above her head, a small trickle of blood was running down her face.  
"Ugh, I wont let you hurt anyone else" she sputtered, struggling to keep herself up. Using all the strength she could muster, she heaved the column at Darkfox, before falling to her knees.

Minagi managed to turn her head enough to see Ryoko throw the column, she looked at Darkfox before getting ready to escape.  
"I will never be your slave, not get away from me!" she shouted, proceeding to kick him in the gut and forcing him to let her go. Minagi flew up out of the way just in time for the column to miss her and hit Darkfox, both he and the column flying towards one of the walls.

--------------------

"This isn't good, his power is more then enough to rival Ryoko and Minagi, and he's still just playing with them" Washu said as she collected all the data from the fight.  
"I cant just stand here and watch, I have to do something!" Matt replied, before Washu put a hand up to block his way.  
"I don't think so, if you go in there, you may not come back alive"

Matthew looked at her, sighing before looking back at Darkfox, who was no longer holding Minagi, but instead flying at them along with a column.  
"Look out!" Matt shouted before diving into Washu "What are yo- Wah!" Washu cried at she was knocked to the floor, seeing the column barely miss them.

As it crashed into the wall behind them, there was a long silence, until Darkfox got back up and brushed the dust off his shoulders. He walked up to Matthew and Washu, stopping to look at them.  
"After I deal with them, I'll see what should be done with you Matt" He said smugly, turning back to the main section of the room.

Matthew sighed in relief before looking at Washu.  
"Are you ok Washu, I thought you might" Matthew stopped as he saw one of his gloves sticking out of her pocket.  
"That I might what?" Washu asked, rubbing her head as she watched Darkfox walking off. Quietly, Matt reached into her pocket and gently pulled the glove out, but not without being noticed by Washu. "Hey! This is a serious situation, I don't think this is the time to feel having a feel!" Washu said, turning around to face him.  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to touch you there, my hand slipped that's all" Matt apologized, able to hide the glove from her. With his hands behind his back, he slipped the glove on, feeling the energy surging around him.

"Hmm, if only Ryoko didn't have to worry about everyone else around her, she could really go all out" Washu commented. Matthew got up, a look of determination on his face.  
"Make sure the others are safe, I'll stop him myself" he said bluntly, forcing Washu to finally notice that he was wearing the glove.  
"How did you? Forget that, you cant do this Matt, even with those gloves! Take that off now before you get hurt"  
"No, I have to do this, for all of you, for Minagi" he said as he began to walk towards Darkfox.  
"But it's going to kill you!" Washu shouted at him, but to no avail "Don't do this" she murmured. Looking at her pocket, she pulled out the other glove, looking at it carefully. "Should I really risk it?"

--------------------

Ryoko got up onto her feet as she saw Darkfox coming towards her, his blade was ready and he was grinning evilly.  
"You cant win Ryoko, its too late for all of you now" he said, stopping in front of her.  
"I wont let you do this" Ryoko said, still feeling a little woozy, watching as Darkfox raised his blade.  
"Any last words"  
"Yeah, go to hell!" Matt said from behind as he swung his energy blade at Darkfox, who spun his blade around in time to meet him in a deadlock.  
"You, when did you get this power?" Darkfox shouted back as he slowly forced Matt's blade back, noticing his glove. "I see, you found a way to harness the gems energy, too bad you wont get to use them again once I'm finished with you"  
"Just shut up, I'm tired of listening to your voice!" Matt retorted, as he tried to focus as much energy as he could into his attack. His blade began to spark to life and crackle with energy, he managed to stop Darkfox pushing his blade back anymore, meeting him in a deadlock again.

Ryoko watched on, amazed at what Matt was doing.  
"How is he calling up so much energy? He must be using everything he's got" she said to herself, seeing that Tenchi was getting up, she phased over to help him. "Tenchi"  
"Ah, its ok Ryoko, I'll be fine" Tenchi reassured her "What about the others"  
"Don't worry, everyone's ok" Ryoko smiled, before turning back to Matt and Darkfox, who were trying to force each other to give in.

"You cant handle much more of this, can you?" Darkfox said, noticing the sweat on Matt's forehead.  
"Why would you say that, I'm just getting warmed up" Matt snapped back, his voice sounding weak.  
"I see, you cant handle this level of power"  
"S-shut up!"

Matthews blade began to diminish, fading in and out. Seeing that he couldn't take anymore, Darkfox forced Matthew back, letting him drop to his knees.  
"I'll make this quick and painless for you" Darkfox said, ready to land the finishing blow.  
"Oh no you don't!" Washu startled him, by creating her own blade in front of him, she was wearing the other glove. Quickly she made her way between Matt and Darkfox.  
"Don't interfere with this battle, I wont hesitate to kill you, even if your wanted alive"  
"Well, I guess you'll just have to kill me then!" Washu grinned.

--------------------

"No! Mom!" Ryoko shouted out, just as Tenchi frowned, the symbols of the light hawk wings appearing on his head.  
"I wont hold back any more, I'm stopping this now!" Tenchi said as his celestial armour formed around him and the three light hawk wings formed. "Darkfox!" he shouted out as he morphed one of the wings into the tenchi-kun.

Darkfox turned away from Washu, sensing the new power in the boy, he grinned, dashing at Tenchi.  
"You still think you stand a chance against me? I'll kill you in one blow!" he shouted as he came up to Tenchi, quickly swinging his blade. But with the light hawk wings, Tenchi blocked the attack with ease, using a second wing to knock dark fox back.  
"You wont hurt anyone again, I'll make sure Kagato dies with you!"

The pair dashed at each other, their blades connecting again and again, just as Darkfox tried to lunge at Tenchi, the Jurai prince moved to the side, swing his blade through Darkfox's back, flooring the man.  
"Well, Jurai's weapon, the light hawk wings being controlled by a boy. Very impressive" Darkfox said, before his body turned into dust and faded away forever.

Tenchi returned to normal, just in time for Ryoko and Ayeka to run over and grab onto him.  
"Way to go Tenchi!" they both said, before noticing each other.  
"Hands off princess, I was here first!" Ryoko ordered, as she clung tighter to Tenchi's arm.  
"He doesn't want a demon like you hanging onto him!" Ayeka shouted back, the two continued to argue with Tenchi left in the middle.  
"I thought I was going to be the hero, so much for the praise" Tenchi sighed as the girls continued to fight.

Minagi walked over to Sasami, who was petting Ryo-Ohki, a little relived that everyone was ok.  
"It's over Sasami, we beat him" Minagi said gentally, kneeling down to hug the little princess.  
"I know, I'm just glad that everyone's ok" Sasami sighed, closing her eyes as she smiled, returning the hug.

"Mreow?" Ken-Ohki mewed to Nagi as she sat up, rubbing the back of her neck.  
"Are you ok Nagi?" Mihoshi asked as she leaded down to check on the bounty hunter.  
"Ah, I'm ok Mihoshi, just a little sore" Nagi replied, rubbing her neck as she looked at Tenchi. "I guess we won"  
"Yeah, Tenchi used the power of the light hawk wings. It's like he has an infinite supply of power" Kiyone said, resting against a column in a relaxed state. "But if Matt hadn't got in there, we could have lost Ryoko"

Speaking of Matthew, he was watching Tenchi and the girls with Washu, still down on his knees.  
"That power, its really something else?" Matthew said to himself.  
"It really is, but even I don't know how he does it" Washu replied, smiling at the scene.  
"Ugh, W-Wash-" Matthew started before dropping to the ground.  
"What, what is it?" Washu asked, waiting for an answer. When he didn't reply, she turned around seeing him laying unconscious. "Oh no!" She shouted, quickly taking the glove off that he was wearing.

"What's wrong?" Tenchi asked as everyone ran over to them.  
"Is he okay mom?" Ryoko asked, before seeing the gloves "Oh god, he used the gems"  
"What do you mean Ryoko" Ayeka asked, looking at the other boy.  
"The gems have been draining Matt's power whenever he used them, but this time was too much" Washu stated "Is he?" Ryoko started.  
"No, he's still alive, but we need to get him back home now so I can try and get him back to normal"  
"I've got him" Tenchi said, picking Matt up by the arm to carry him. Nagi joined him, holing Matt's other arm.

As they walked off, Washu stopped, looking at the gems on Matt's gloves. As she focused on them, Images flashed though her head again. This time, a voice spoke out to her.  
"Washu, come to me sister, our fate is waiting for your arrival"

"Mom?" Minagi asked, bring Washu out of the vision. "Are you ok"  
"I'm fine" the little genius replied, taking off her glove, putting the pair in her pocket. "Lets get going"  
"Alright" Minagi said, as the began to walk off. Washu quickly looked back, staring into space.  
"Tokimi…"

--------------------

Authors corner - Well, this chapter came along a lot quicker then others, but its my longest chapter yet, and also the end of the first arc in the story.  
I'm splitting time between this, work and my script now, so things go a lot smoother. Plus my base script is almost finished and ready to be sent off to be reviewed.

A few more reviews here.  
Nikcorra - Heh, I bet a few people were surprised when I had Nagi act so forward. But yeah, I wanted to leave the story at a cliff hanger on the way to the big battle. Glad your still reading the story.  
A Fan - Your definitely right there, Tenchi and Sasami may be the only sane ones in that blood-line, even then the only sane one they know may be Kiyone, hope to hear more from you.  
WeRyounG - Heh, another thin blue lane, nice to know, glad you like my character.

What to find out what happens to Matthew? What Tokimi is planning? Find out soon!


	12. Rebirth from Darkness

"But why? Why now?" Mihoshi cried out, clearly upset by the current situation. "It hasn't been that long, but that's it"  
"Mihoshi, calm down" Kiyone said, placing her hands on the tanned girls shoulders.  
"No, it's not! Why couldn't we have a few more days? It's so unfair"  
"Mihoshi" Nagi said softly "It was bound to happen, I have a job to do, I just have to earn a living"

Everyone else, aside from Matthew and Washu, watched on, sighing at the scene.  
"That Mihoshi, she's a little too emotional for her own good" Ayeka stated.  
"Yeah, but at least she's leaving" Ryoko replied, staring at Nagi, glad to see her old rival leaving at last. "I just wish she'd hurry this up"

Ryo-Ohki was just as upset as Mihoshi, she and Ken-Ohki were in there child-forms, hugging each other and crying. Sasami was there to take hold of Ryo-Ohki and pull her away.  
"It's ok Ryo-Ohki, you'll meet each other again" Sasami reassured the cabbit girl, watching as Ken-Ohki waved goodbye before jumping into the air and transforming into a ship.

"Well, I guess this is it" Nagi said, smiling to everyone, "Thanks for letting me stay here a while, I may come by again someday"  
"Not bloody likely" Ryoko murmured, as Nagi made her way over to Tenchi.  
"You know, we never finished that little chat a few days ago"  
"C-chat?" Tenchi asked, confused until he remembered to when they almost kissed, forcing a blush out of him.  
"Yeah, and I don't really want to leave it like that" Nagi grinned, a sultry look in her eye.  
"What do you me-mmph!" Tenchi's voice was muffled as Nagi pulled him in for a quick kiss.  
"Miss Nagi!" Ayeka stormed as she and Ryoko rushed over to her.

"Oh, here we go" Kiyone said flatly, as she moved Mihoshi over to Sasami, keeping her out of the way of the danger.  
"Mroew?" Ryo-Ohki mewed up at Sasami.  
"Really? I never would have guessed!" Sasami said, rather surprised "W-what is it?" Mihoshi sobbed, still upset that Nagi was leaving so soon.  
"Well, apparently Nagi likes Tenchi too, Ryo-Ohki caught her trying to kiss him back on the day we had that distress call"  
"I see" Kiyone said, a little aggravated. "What is it that everyone sees in him? I don't get it"

"Hey, you leave Tenchi alone!" Ryoko shouted out from in front of Tenchi and Nagi "If anyone kisses him, it's going to be me"  
"Oh, I'm sorry Ryoko" Nagi said as she turned to face Ryoko. "How about I return the favour"  
"How on earth are you going to retu-mmph!" Ryoko's rant was muffled as Nagi's lips covered her own, her eyes went wide with shock, as did everyone else who was watching. Tenchi meanwhile, had collapsed on the floor, after a sudden nose-bleed.  
"Nng!" Ryoko forced Nagi off as she gasped for air. "What the hell was that?" she shouted out, blushing furiously.  
"Well, it's an indirect kiss from Tenchi for you, and some more fun for me" Nagi winked before disappearing into her ship. "Goodbye everyone"  
"MREEOW!" Ken-Ohki cried out before flying off into space

"Ryoko, are you ok?" Mihoshi asked, trying to move the woman who was practically frozen in shock now.  
"F-fun, for, me?" Ryoko repeated the words in her head.  
"Mihoshi, don't worry about Ryoko, she'll be fine" Ayeka spoke out "Help me with Tenchi"  
"Oh, right!"

--------------------

"Well, I'll miss them, that's for sure" Nagi said as she sat down, one of the crystals coming over to her "Meow" It spoke out, a small device sticking out of it.  
"What's that?" Nagi asked, pulling out the small device, and looking at it.  
"Hello?" a voice piped up from the device "Washu"  
"That's right, I thought I'd get you a little going away present" Washu said to her through the little machine.  
"Thanks, but what is it"  
"It's my own invention, the bounty tracker! That will tell you all the bounties available, and the locations of the ones closest to you"  
"Wow, that's impressive" Nagi grinned, this being the first time she'd seen Washu's work in action.  
"Yeah, well I am the greatest scientific genius in the universe! Hah!" Washu laughed, admiring her own skills before continuing. "Oh, and just between you and me, I put a little something extra in there, but I'll leave that as a surprise"  
"Ok Washu, goodbye"  
"Bye!"

The little device went silent, before Washu's crab logo came up on the screen.  
"I get the feeling that I should be worried" Nagi said, wondering what this little bonus was.

--------------------

Washu grinned as she turned off her communication link with Nagi's ship, leaning back in her seat.  
"I get the feeling that she may be back sooner then she thinks" Washu said happily, before getting up and frowning slightly. "Now for the real work"

She walked away from her little computer, over to a medical station. Matt was laid across one of the tables, still unconscious from taking part in the battle against the Kagato clone. He hadn't moved by himself at all for two days now.  
"Oh Matt, why didn't you listen to me?" She asked him as she looked though the data recordings. "Astromental levels are practically nothing, and your psyche patterns have been dropping steadily, and that doesn't give you much time"

She looked around the immediate area, in hopes of something catching her attention.  
"Ah ha! Perhaps I could make a body double and copy his mind over!" she said happily "But the last time I tried that, I had to stop myself from destroying the universe. I'd have to hide the real body"  
She continued to look around, before her eyes came upon another device.  
"I could always give him an energy boost, but that just feel's simple"

Sighing, she sat down on the table Matt was on, looking down at him.  
"If only you were about ten thousand years older" she spoke softly, brushing some of Matt's hair out f his face, before looking at the gloves left on the next table. "Hmm"

Getting up, she moved closer to the gloves, reaching out to touch them. As her finger grazed the gem, an image of Tokimi flashed through her mind, forcing her to pull back.  
"Who are you?"

--------------------

"How long have I been here now?" a voice rang out through the immense darkness. "I feel so cold"

Floating in the darkness, Matt was curled up into a ball, hugging his knees, he couldn't remember how he got here, or when he had became trapped. He thought about the last moments he could remember before ending up here. "Could the gems really kill me? I've never felt I'll or anything when I use them" he thought as he floated around, going nowhere.  
"The gems hold a power too great for you, your death is inevitable if you continue to use them" a voice echoed out, coming at him from every direction.  
"Who's there?" Matt shouted out, looking about the place.  
"The gems put you here, now it is just a matter of time before the body gives in"  
"Shut up! I feel fine"  
"Your mind is blank, you will feel nothing, even until the end. Your time will soon be up, and when your body crumbles, your mind will be destroyed"  
"Who are you?" Matthew shouted out again, as a face formed in the darkness behind him.  
"Your inner demons" it spoke out as Matt turned around to see his own face, covered in blood. "The gems awoke your evil side, letting free the part of you that yearns for freedom"  
"G-get away from me"  
"And leave my captor alone for his final days"  
"Why should I believe you"  
"I see what you see, and I have seen what happened to you, just look at where you lay now"

As the other Matt let his body form, showing a tougher looking version of the boy, he brushed his through the darkness, revealing an image of Washu's lab, machines around him, Washu was just beside him, facing away.  
"Washu! What's going on?"

--------------------

The monitors alarm to life, catching Washu off guard as she turned around in shock, seeing Matt's eye barely open.  
"Matt, your ok! But how?" she said excitedly.  
"W-wash; Washu" he barely muttered, struggling to turn his head and look at her. "H-hel; help; help me"  
He tried to lift his arm to touch her, but he collapsed again, closing his eyes. The alarms went silent again, as if nothing had happened.  
"We don't have long. I'm going to need the others help for this!" Washu said as she ran out of the medical area of her lab, heading for the exit.

--------------------

"No! Take me back!" Matthew shouted as the image faded away, his evil side grinning "I'll grant you some ease for your remaining time here, you wont have to watch what happens while you cant do a thing" it said as it began to fade back into the darkness.  
"Don't leave me alone! Get back here now"  
"It is too late for that now"

The evil side disappeared as Matt tried to claw through the darkness, hoping to see what was going on again.  
"No, I don't want to be alone!" He shouted out, tears of desperation forming in his eyes as nothing happened, he could move anything or see anyone around him. "Please, help me someone. I don't want to be alone" he murmured as he curled back up into a ball again, starting to cry.

--------------------

"Hey Sasami! Tenchi!" Washu shouted out as she looked about the house, unable to find anyone, a little panicked with the lack of activity in the house. "Kiyone! Ayeka!" she shouted out again "Mihoshi?" she muttered.

With no-one to be seen, Washu called forth her computer, typing away quickly.  
"Where is everyone?" she said to herself as multiple images came up on her screen.

--------------------

"Why did we have to leave so soon?" Mihoshi asked from her seat in Yagami's bridge.  
"You know what they're like at headquarters" Kiyone replied, sitting back in her chair as she tried to relax. "They want this sort of data as soon as possible, especially when a space pirate like that guy gets killed"  
"Well, couldn't I have stayed back home? I wanted to catch the latest episodes of space-police police men"

Kiyone sighed, before looking at Mihoshi.  
"So that when they reply to us, I wont get another lecture about not keeping you on the job. They except you to be here as well Mihoshi, so they can hear what be both have to say" Kiyone explained.  
"Alright, but I think it would be easier if they just contacted us back at home" Mihoshi replied, yawning out of boredom "Yeah, I guess that would be nice. But to be honest, I think we could all do with getting out of the house for a while"  
"Because of Matthew?" Mihoshi asked, turning to face Kiyone.  
"Yeah, it's bad enough that he's in a coma. It's just there's a lot of tension in the house right now, with all the worry about loosing someone we'd consider a friend"

Mihoshi frowned, before she became a little more serious then usual.  
"You like him, don't you Kiyone?" She said calmly, smiling a little.  
"W-what do you mean?" Kiyone blurted out "Why would you say that Mihoshi"  
"I don't know, you just talk about him differently to Tenchi" Mihoshi said before the ship stopped.

"Miss Mihoshi, Miss Kiyone." Yukinojo spoke out before coming down between them. "We are ready to transmit the report now"  
"Thanks Yukinojo" Mihoshi replied as she and Kiyone sent out their reports.  
"It wont be long until the report is received, but we may have to wait a while for their response" Yukinojo informed them.  
"Alright Yukinojo, you can take it easy for now until the contact us" Kiyone ordered as she leaned back into her seat, yawning.  
"Very well Kiyone"

As Yukinojo retracted back into the roof of the bridge, Kiyone turned her head to look at Mihoshi "What did you mean? How do I talk about him differently?" Kiyone asked.  
"Well, you just to be relaxed whenever you chat with Tenchi" Mihoshi replied as she adjusted her hat, letting her hair down a little. "But then your quiet when Matt's around, I haven't really heard you talk to him that much"

Kiyone sighed, getting up to make her way to the bathroom. "I don't know Mihoshi, maybe it's because I still don't trust him yet" she said as she left the bridge.  
"Maybe?" Mihoshi said to herself, trying to think about it.

--------------------

"Thanks for coming with me Ayeka, I could always do with someone to help me with all the shopping" Sasami said to her elder sister, smiling happily. Ayeka smiled as well, enjoying the gentle breeze that seemed to go well with the warm sun that shone down on them.  
"Yes, well I thought it would be nice to look around the local towns more often, is better then always being stuck at home" she replied, looking at some of the stalls.  
"Mya!" Ryo-Ohki piped up from her spot in the empty basket that Sasami was carrying.

They stopped at one of the stalls, Sasami looked for anything that might go well with tonight's meal as Ayeka glanced around the street, trying to see if there was anything that would catch her eye.  
"You know sis, I think we were lucky out there, weren't we?" Sasami asked as she made her way to the next stall, where the vendor smiled and greeted her.  
"I know, if it wasn't for Tenchi and the light-hawk wings, I don't think we would be here" Ayeka replied. "He's certainly getting stronger isn't he"  
"I know, but that's because he cares about all of us so much"

Ayeka smiled, agreeing with her little sister. But she still hoped for the day that Tenchi would choose her over all the others.  
"I suppose your right Sasami, he really is kind at heart"  
"Mreow?" Ryo-Ohki mewed as Ayeka, jumping into her arms.  
"I'm sure he care's about you too Ryo-Ohki"  
"Mya!" Ryo-Ohki smiled, getting comfy in Ayeka's arms as she looked around.

"You know" Sasami started as she picked up a few vegetables, waving to the vendor before moving on, "I wonder why Washu didn't say goodbye to Nagi, you'd think that she would have some time for that"  
"Yes, that is a little odd, perhaps she was busy with Matthew" Ayeka replied, causing Sasami to frown a little.  
"Do you think he'll be ok"  
"I'm sure that he'll be fine. Knowing Washu, she has him hooked up to a machine right now and is doing something to help him as we speak" Ayeka said, patting Sasami on the shoulder.

Ryo-Ohki looked at Sasami, mewing a few times to tell her something.  
"What is she saying Sasami?" Ayeka asked, unable to understand what the cabbit was saying.  
"Oh, apparently, Washu already gave Nagi a present before she left"  
"Really?" Ayeka paused, wondering what it could be. "I hope it's not dangerous"

--------------------

"Alright Ken-Ohki, this thing just picked up the location of someone with a bounty on their head" Nagi said from her seat inside her ship.  
"Myaa?" Ken-Ohki asked, a few crystals floating around the bounty hunter.  
"Well, it's not worth a lot, but the reward should be enough to get us by for a little while"  
"Mreow"  
"Yeah, we might as well go after this guy"

Ken-Ohki turned, speeding up as he made his way towards a nearby planet, ready for action.

--------------------

"Ryoko!" Tenchi shouted out from one of the carrot fields "You could help me out instead of just watching me you know!"

Ryoko yawned from her spot opposite the path near Tenchi, laying down on the grass watching her beloved Tenchi working.  
"Why don't you take a little break? We have plenty of carrots at home anyway" Ryoko said, shrugging her shoulders "Besides, you could really do with some rest after fighting that clone"  
"Well, I guess I could have a few minutes" Tenchi replied, putting his hoe down before making his way over to Ryoko and sitting down by her.

Smiling, Ryoko got up, phasing herself behind Tenchi to give him a large hug, catching him by surprise.  
"Wha, R-Ryoko?" Tenchi stuttered, blushing a little.  
"Don't you think it would be nice if everyday was like this? Just you and me, out here where its nice and quiet." Ryoko asked, grinning as she wrapped her arms around him.  
"Yeah, that would be nice" Tenchi replied, looking up at the sky.  
"What, really?" Ryoko said, surprised with his answer "Of course, but what about the others, I'm sure they would love it too" Tenchi smiled

"Ugh, he missed the point entirely" Ryoko thought to herself, frowning a little before looking at Tenchi and smiling again. "But what about just you and me Tenchi?" She asked.  
"I don't know, I would have thought that you'd like to go out somewhere for a meal or something like that" Tenchi replied.  
"Really? Well why not"  
"Maybe another time Ryoko, when there isn't so much work that has to be done around here" Tenchi said, slowly getting up with Ryoko still clinging onto him. "Speaking of work, I better do these fields now or I'll be here all day"  
"Alright then, let me help you!" Ryoko said, letting go of Tenchi and floating over the carrot field.

Tenchi stopped, a little surprised that she was offering to do some work.  
"Your really going to help?" he asked, watching as she picked up the hoe.  
"Only if you promise to take me out to dinner" Ryoko smirked, winking at him.  
"Sure, how about we go out for noodles?" Tenchi grinned as he started to work.  
"Noodles? I want to go somewhere nice"  
"Then what about this little curry hut I know"  
"Tenchi"  
"Alright, alright. Jing's discount wok"  
"Nooo! Stop that!" Ryoko shouted, as she began to chase him around the field. Tenchi laughed as he ran about.  
"Alright then, I'll let you choose"  
"Really! Better get you wallet ready then!" Ryoko shouted, smiling as she caught him in another hug. "Because when we go out, its going to be really extravagant"  
"Oh boy" Tenchi said, wondering if he had enough money for a meal with Ryoko.

--------------------

"Well what do you know?" Washu said to herself. "Everyone's out. And thought that would never happen"  
"Washu?" Minagi spoke out, startling the little genius.  
"Wahh!" Washu cried out, falling off the little seat she had summoned. "How long have you been here"  
"Oh, just a few minutes, I went into the onsen after Nagi left"  
"I see, well it's a good thing you're here"  
"Why, do you need some hel-huwh?" Minagi asked before she found herself being dragged along into the lab.

--------------------

"So let me just run through this, so I know why were doing this" Minagi said as she lay down on a table while Washu attached a machine to her head.  
"Sure, take your time"  
"Your going to transfer some of my energy into Matthew"  
"That's right" Washu spoke out as she put a second device on Matt.  
"But you want to make you only use enough needed to wake him up"  
"Go on"  
"And that you don't use too much, so it doesn't cause any damage to me"  
"Hopefully, that's what will happen" Washu said as she sat down in front of a terminal. "But you should expect to be a little sore afterwards, or at least get a mild craving for cheese"  
"What? Why that?" Minagi asked, sitting up to look at Washu "Protein, and it tastes good. Now lay down and try to relax"

Minagi nodded, before following Washu's order.  
"Alright, here we go!" Washu shouted as she typed in some commands, starting up the machine.  
"Are you sure that this is safe?" Minagi asked "Not really, but that never stopped me before" Washu grinned, pressing a button.

The machine vibrated as the device on Minagi's head started to glow, drawing a bright blue ball of energy out of her. As it was drawn into the machine, the device on Matthew's head began to glow, small energy streams flowing into him.  
This went on for a few minutes, until Washu turned off the machine and removed the devices.  
"Did it work?" Minagi asked, sitting up, yawning due to the energy loss.  
"Well, his body is taking the energy in fine, we just have to wait and see if he can accept it"  
"How long will is take"  
"Minutes, hours, even days" Washu replied "There is no way to tell"

--------------------

"Matthew"  
"Who's there?" Matthew asked as he heard a voice call out for him in the darkness.  
"Matthew, where are you?" it called out again.

Matthew looked around, still unable to see though the black clouds that surrounded him.  
"What's going on?" He thought as he tried to see something. "I hope its not that other me playing some sort of trick"  
"Matthew!" the voice called out, sounding familiar to him.  
"Damn it, just come out already!"

As he waited, a ball of energy started to come towards him, slowly making its way through the dark.  
"What is that?" Matt said as the ball came closer, starting to change its shape.  
"I found you!" it spoke out as it formed a body.  
"M-Minagi"  
"Almost, I'm here to help you"

Matt looked at it, it looked and sounded just like Minagi, apart from the colour, he found himself looking down, seeing that it was naked as well.  
"Ah!" Matt blushed as he looked back up. "Help me? How"  
"I'm going to bring you back, help you to wake up"  
"But I'm trapped in here, I don't know how to get out" Matthew said, as Minagi cupped his cheek "Trust me and everything will be fine"

Matthew looked at her, taking the hand that held his cheek, before moving in to hold her. As he did, light surrounded them, pushing back the darkness.

"You will not escape me forever, one day, I will be free"

--------------------

All of a sudden, Matt opened his eyes, looking around the lab.  
"Ugh, what happened to me?" he asked, spotting Minagi and Washu running over to him.  
"Matthew, are you ok?" Minagi asked.  
"How are you feeling?" Washu added.  
"I feel, fine." Matt said as he sat up slowly. "But I have the strangest craving for a cheese sandwich"

Minagi and Washu grinned, looking at him. Minagi could help but laugh.  
"What did I tell you?" Washu said as she checked Matthew's body status for any problems.  
"Did I miss something?" Matt asked, rubbing his eyes "Don't worry, just a little side-effect about the transfer that I told Minagi about"

Matthew got off the table, not realising that he wasn't wearing any clothes.  
"Matt! Have some decency please!" Minagi shouted, turning away to hide her blushing face.  
"What?" Matt started before realising "Wahh? Who undressed me?" Matt said, red-faced as he grabbed the sheet that had been covering him.  
"It was purely for medical reasons. But don't worry, there's nothing to complain about" Washu said, "Well, looks like your ok, your astromental level isn't back to normal yet, but you'll just need a little rest and some food for that"

Matthew looked at her, seeing a smirk on her face.  
"You not telling me something" he said, looking at her "And where are my clothes"  
"I said don't worry" Washu said, turning away to fetch his clothes. "Besides, there's nothing wrong in being, average"  
"Washu!" Matt shouted out, chasing after her.

--------------------

Later on, Washu was sat in the living room with Minagi, watching the TV as Sasami and Ayeka walked in through the door.  
"Hello?" Sasami called out "In here!" Minagi called back, waving to them As they came into view.  
"Where is everyone?" Ayeka asked, putting her basket down as she sat next to Minagi.  
"Well, Mihoshi and Kiyone are sending their report to the galaxy police, Ryoko and Tenchi are working in the fields" Washu said.  
"And Matthew is upstairs, resting" Minagi added, smiling.  
"Matt's awake?" Sasami said, excited.

Washu smiled at the little princess, nodding to her.  
"He's fine, just gave him an energy boost and he's almost good as new"  
"That's good" Sasami said, smiling.  
"What did I tell you Sasami? I knew Washu would be able to help him" Ayeka commented, as Ryo-Ohki transformed, picking up the basket that Ayeka had put down and taking it into the kitchen with Sasami.

Ayeka smiled, before looking over to Washu.  
"Miss Washu, Ryo-Ohki said you gave Nagi a gift before she left"  
"That's right, just a little device to help her track down her bounties a lot quicker" Washu replied.  
"Oh, that's a relief, I'm sure she'll enjoy that"  
"I know she will, I'm sure she find out just how useful it is when she bags her next bounty"

--------------------

Meanwhile, out at a large space station.  
"Are you serious?" Nagi shouted out in surprise, almost shocking the officer in the bounty office.  
"Yes ma'am, this bounty is worth ten thousand credits"

Nagi looked at him, before looking at the device that Washu had gave her.  
"But it was only one hundred credits before" Nagi thought. "Did she do this?"

"Excuse me" the officer interrupted her thoughts. "Your reward" he said, handing over the credit slip.  
"Thanks" Nagi said, taking the slip and leaving the office.

Quickly making her way to a secluded area, out of sight, she looked at the credit slip, and then the device Washu gave her. Smiling, she suddenly started hopping around for joy.  
"Haha! I'm going to be rich! Luxury life, here I come!"

--------------------

Authors corner - Another chapter over and things are really starting to progress. Do we have a possible relationship blooming? We can only find out as we move on through this story.

And now we have two possible stories on the go, Tokimi is still out there, and now there is another side to Matt that's starting to reveal itself.

Also, did this chapter seem a little weird, I'm not sure if the dream state that Matthew was in really worked or not.

Anyway, time for the reviews, we have 3 this time. (Slowly getting more each time)  
WeRyounG - Glad you enjoyed the last chapter, I'm finding myself with a lot of free time, so more work on the story is getting done.  
A Fan - I haven't seen the GXP episodes yet, or the new Ova episodes. That's the only problem when you live in Europe, it takes ages for the new Anime to get here. If I knew about what the character were like in those series, I'd try to implement it, but I am trying to make Tenchi a little more mature now.  
Nikcorra - Glad you enjoyed that last chapter, and that you liked the Kagato clone twist. I still haven't decided who I want Matthew to fall for yet, but I have 3 choices right now. Also, no cliff-hanger this time, so almost everyone's happy.

Hope to get the next chapter up before December 2nd, so I can have a little break to try out the 360 when it comes out. 


	13. Dates, shopping and Goddesses

"My lady, it seems that the plan may not be working" D3 said, phasing into view before the goddess Tokimi.  
"Yes, Washu is very strong indeed" Tokimi replied "But she slowly being to falter. I can feel those gem's calling out to her"  
"But what if she is never drawn in? What will you do then"  
"Then rather then waiting for her to come to us, we shall go to her"

D3 chuckled calmly, phasing away while Tokimi looked at an image of her sister.  
"Soon my dear sister, soon we shall all be together again"

--------------------

"Hey everyone!" Mihoshi called out cheerfully as she was transported off of Yagami's bridge. It had taken most of the day for the Galaxy Police to contact her and Kiyone to review their reports.  
"How did everything go? Minagi asked, watching Yagami disappear while the detectives walked over to her and the others.  
"Fine, they just kept on asking questions that didn't really need an answer. Every time we mention Tenchi and the power of Jurai, it sends them into a frenzy" Kiyone said.  
"Well, at least your back home now"  
"And just in time for lunch!" Mihoshi exclaimed happily, not noticing Kiyone sigh.

Washu grinning, stopping Kiyone as the others went inside.  
"They're still concerned about someone using the light hawk wings?" she asked, grinning a little.  
"Yeah, especially Tenchi. They still don't have any information to link him to the Jurai royal family, so it's had them in a panic, trying to find the missing blood-line" Kiyone replied.  
"Oh well, that's not really important. Come on, lets eat"  
"Alright"

Kiyone walked along with Washu, stepping inside the house. As she removed her shoes, she noticed someone walking towards her.  
"Where have you been"  
"Huh?" Kiyone said, recognising the voice, looking up to see Matthew smiling at her.  
"Hi" he said, smiling softly.  
"You-your ok. But how did you?" Kiyone stuttered.  
"Washu, she used one of her machines to give me an energy boost"  
"Really? Well that's no surprise, she didn't do anything else to you, did she?"

Matthew thought back to chasing after her while he had been naked, but decided not to mention it.  
"No, just a quick check-up, that's all" Matt said.  
"Well, I'm glad that your ok now" Kiyone said, smiling back to him. As she looked at him, she remembered what Mihoshi had spoke about to her earlier, Kiyone blushed a little, but shook it off and started to walk past him. "Come on, or we wont get anything to eat"  
"Alright then"

--------------------

"Tenchi, was Ryoko really working with you on the fields?" Ayeka asked him as Kiyone and Matthew made their way to the table, taking their seats either side of Mihoshi.  
"Thanks Sasami" Tenchi said as Sasami placed his meal in front of him, before looking at Ayeka. "Yeah, she did help out. I was amazed with how quickly we got everything done. Why"  
"Well, I'm just surprised that she even considered doing some manual labour" Ayeka replied, grinning at Ryoko, who just smirked right back.  
"Keep smiling like that Princess and you'll be sorry" Ryoko said, not bothering to sound like she meant it.  
"She has a point Ryoko" Washu added "It's not like you to do some work"  
"Mom!" Ryoko shouted, trying to ignore Ayeka's giggling.  
"Oh come on, I'm sure everyone thinks the same"  
"Really?" Ryoko asked, looking at the others?

Everyone stopped, looking at each other for a moment before they all began to nod, apart from Matt.  
"Well, at least someone's on my side" Ryoko said.  
"Well, I haven't known you for that long, so I wouldn't know" Matt said, causing Ayeka to giggle even more.  
"Ok, I think that's enough Ayeka" Tenchi said calmly, looking at the princess. "I think its great that Ryoko's starting to help out"

Ryoko smiled, phasing behind Tenchi to hug him.  
"Oh, thank you Tenchi!" she said happily, before sticking her tongue out at Ayeka, who glared at the ex-space pirate.  
"I see nothing affects the way everyone acts around here" Matthew said, taking his time with his food, receiving a hum of agreement from Kiyone.

--------------------

"Are you ok?" Tenchi asked as he saw Matthew lay down on one of the sofas after dinner, he seemed a little off all morning.  
"Yeah, I'm just a little tired, that's all. I haven't got all my energy back yet" Matt replied, watching Tenchi sit down opposite him. "You know, I thought you were powerful when we had that little duel, but I never thought that you had so much power hidden inside you"  
"Yeah. But the funny thing is, I don't even know how to use that power yet"  
"What?" Matt said, sitting up to look at him oddly. "Then how"  
"I don't know, it just seems to kick in when everyone's in danger, I mean that I cant use it whenever I want"

Matt grinned, laying back down and resting his eyes.  
"Besides, you surprised me, focusing all that energy into your defence" Tenchi mentioned.  
"Yeah, but that was what nearly killed me, remember" Matt replied.  
"I know, but I still think it was impressive. Too bad you cant control that kind of power"  
"Yeah, too bad. But I don't think I'll be asking Washu to help out with that, lord knows what she'd do to me"  
"Heh, that's true" Tenchi grinned, before standing up. "Just be glad she isn't after a certain sample" he said, making his way to his room.

--------------------

Ryoko was busy in her room, trying to decide on something nice to wear. Minagi was there with her, smiling a little.  
"What's got you in a rush?" Minagi asked, watching her sister as she floated in front of a mirror.  
"Well" Ryoko said, smiling happily. "Don't tell Ayeka, but I've got a date with Tenchi!"

Ryoko giggled, she was excited just saying it. She floated around the room with a smile on her face.  
"Wow, nice going Ryoko" Minagi said, smiling as well. "Going anywhere special"  
"Well, Tenchi said he was going to choose where we go"  
"I see, well mind if I help you out"  
"No problem, I know that I'm definitely going to wear one of these, I just cant decide if I'll go with the red or the black"

Minagi looked at the items Ryoko held, blushing a little at the site of them.  
"Well, it depends, do you want to get Tenchi's attention, or make him pass out?"

--------------------

Ayeka, Sasami, Kiyone and Mihoshi were sat in the living room, watching TV as Ayeka felt a chill run down her spine.  
"Hmm, I just had a really bad feeling" she said, looking at the others.  
"Really?" Sasami asked, looking at her sister. "All I'm getting right is a bad smell" she said, pointing at Matt, who was still sleeping on the sofa.  
"Come to think of it, I've never seen him in a different set of clothes"  
"Or have a bath" Kiyone added "As soon as he's up, we should get him in the onsen"

Mihoshi looked at him as well, grinning a little "What are we going to do about clothes? He doesn't really have anything suitable for around town"  
"Well" Sasami started, thinking about Matt and Tenchi. "He could use some of Tenchi's clothes"  
"Don't you think he's a little, big? For Tenchi's clothes I mean?" Ayeka said.  
"It's only for a while Ayeka"

Kiyone sighed, watching the others chat away about what to do. She took a glance at Matthew, watching him sleep peacefully.  
"Do I really like him? Sure he's nice, but not that nice. Perhaps I'm just shy because of what happened before; yeah, that must be it. Besides, he's not even my type" she thought to herself.  
"Kiyone?" Sasami said, breaking the detectives train of thought. "Are you ok"  
"Oh, I'm fine Sasami, just thinking about something, that's all"  
"Hey, it's starting!" Mihoshi cried out as the break ended and their show began.

--------------------

"Ahh! Why isn't there any data on this woman?" Washu shouted in frustration as she continuously searched through countless streams of data, trying to find some reference to Tokimi. 

The woman had been on her mind ever since the battle with Dark fox. Fortunately for Washu, she had been too busy with Matthew to worry about it before, but now she had nothing in her way; and she was determined to get as much information as she could.

"Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places. There may not be any data about her specifically, but maybe by going through other data, I may be able to find out about her" Washu said to herself, as she began a new search, putting the name to search for as Tsunami. "If Tsunami was there too, she could have knowledge of Tokimi, but I still don't know who that third woman was"

Washu stopped typing, thinking back to the image of Tokimi, Tsunami and the other figure that she had seen when in contact with the gems, trying to get a better idea of the mystery woman.  
"There's something familiar about her, but I cant quite place my finger on it" she said as she began to look at the data that was being retrieved. "But, as the greatest scientific genius in the universe, I will not give up until I can figure it out!"

Searching through all the data that was coming up, all she could find were references to Jurai and the first tree, along with her own personal data about Tsunami being connected with Sasami. She didn't see any information about Tokimi or a woman matching her profile.  
Washu sighed, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes, thinking about what else she could use to search for her. Spinning around, her eyes darted over at the gems, forcing the little genius to stop herself.  
"I wonder" Washu thought, getting up to walk over to the gems which lay on a table where it had been for the last few days. "It's these things that started this, perhaps they can give me the information I need"

Staring at the gems, Washu could feel her hand moving towards them, almost uncontrollably.  
"No!" she shouted out, stopping herself, turning around to think. "Easy now, it's only one of Ryoko's gems, well from an alternate universes Ryoko at least. But they are just the same as the gems from this Universe"

Turning around, the looked at the gems again, thinking carefully about what to do. It was a few minutes until she did anything.  
"Alright then, tell me about Tokimi" Washu said, touching one of the gems.

--------------------

Yosho was stood outside the shrine, as usual he was under his guise as Katsuhito. He watched Tenchi as he swept the grounds.  
It had been a long time since all the girls had came to earth and things had definitely changed since then. Tenchi, on the other hand, seemed to be taking his time, but today was different.  
As Yosho watched his grandson, he could see how radiant the boy was.

"Tenchi!" Yosho called out, waiting for him to come over.  
"Yes Grandpa?" Tenchi asked, wiping the sweat off his brow.  
"Is something going on? You seem quite happy about something"  
"Oh it's nothing really" Tenchi said casually, before quickly slipping in "Just I'm going out for a meal with Ryoko"

Yosho almost chocked, surprised by what Tenchi had said, before grinning happily.  
"So, you've finally chosen a girl then Tenchi! I was wondering when this day would come"  
"Grandpa! Be serious. It's only a meal together." Tenchi stuttered. "Besides, I don't even know which girl I like the most yet"  
"So, your on your way to choosing at least. That's a start at least"  
"A start?"

There was a slight pause, as Tenchi waited for a response, and Yosho tried to think of something.  
"Don't stand here chatting, you still have more work to do"  
"What"  
"Tenchi" Yosho said sternly, watching Tenchi grumble as he walked back to where he was to resume sweeping.

Yosho chuckled a little, stepping back inside the shrine.  
"I wonder which one he will choose?" he said as he sat down, making himself a cup of tea.

--------------------

"Ahh" Matt let out, stretching his arms as he slowly sat up. "That was a good nap, wonder what time it is"  
"Just after dinner" Kiyone said, who was sat opposite him. "Can I talk to you, somewhere private?" she asked, smiling a little.  
"Um, sure"

Matt got up, following Kiyone out of the house, wondering what she wanted to talk about. Thinking it may well be something naughty if she wanted to be alone with him to say it.  
"I think I'm going to enjoy this" he thought, grinning a little.

--------------------

"Wahh!" Matt cried out as he was tossed into one of the onsen's pools. He stood up as soon as he could, shaking his head before turning around. "What's the big idea?"

Kiyone and Sasami were stood there in front of him, both grinning a little.  
"Sorry Matt, but you really needed a bath" Sasami said, giggling a little.  
"Yeah, even Ryoko was starting to notice" Kiyone added "After your done in here were taking you shopping, you need some new clothes"

Matt frowned. Rather then argue with them, he just turned away from them and sat down.  
"You could of let me get undressed first at least" he mumbled, taking his top off and tossing it over to the edge.  
"Yeah, sorry about that" Kiyone replied "Come out soon okay, we want to get to the stores before closing time"  
"We'll wait for you in the house" Sasami said, smiling as she walked out, Kiyone starting to follow.

Matt sighed, not knowing what was worse, getting thrown about so easily, or the impending doom of clothes shopping with girls. The thought of trying on clothes for hours on end made him shudder a little.  
"Well, the sooner I get this over with, the sooner we finish shopping" He said aloud, reaching under the water, pulling off his pants and his underwear, tossing them over to his top. He looked around quickly, noticing that something wasn't quite right.  
"Where are the towels?"

--------------------

Washu was stood there in a trance, images flying through her head. It was almost as if she was no longer in her lab, but in space, watching as she was brought closer to her answers.

She saw Dr. Clay, confiding with Zero about Tokimi and his meeting with her. But even that wasn't enough to answer who Tokimi was. Until a voice echoed around her.

"Sister, your finally coming to me. I have so much to tell you, and I'm sure there is a lot you wish to discover" The voice echoed out, just before a vision of Tokimi appeared before Washu.  
"So, your Tokimi" Washu said.  
"Well, I'm sure you know that already. Why question what you already have the answer for"  
"Ok then, what do you want from me"  
"I want to see my sister again, find out why you left me alone and live the life of a mortal being"

Washu thought about it. Trying to understand what she meant.  
"What are you? You said I chose the life of a mortal being. Would that make you a"  
"Goddess" Tokimi interrupted, "Just as you once were, and just like our little sister"  
"Tsunami" Washu remarked, contemplating the idea of her being a goddess.  
"It's not that hard to believe. Just waking up one day, and not remembering a thing?" Tokimi said, trying to get Washu to remember.

Tokimi glided closer.  
"You had power, yet you threw it all away. But you still had all that knowledge, yet some of it is missing, something that you just cant discover." Tokimi said, now just a few paces away from Washu.  
"And you could give me that knowledge?" Washu asked, still a little unsure.  
"No, I could give you the power to remember that knowledge"  
"Why should I believe you"  
"Because I know how much you want to discover the secrets of that boy, why he can summon the power of Jurai from within himself."

Tokimi raised a hand towards Washu, a small white orb in it.  
"This is just a glimpse of the secret, imagine how much more you could know" Tokimi said, letting the orb leave her hand and glow in front of Washu.  
The genius just stood there, transfixed by the data she could see.

--------------------

"Ryoko?" Tenchi called out as he tapped on her door. He was dressed rather smartly in a black shirt and pair of black trousers.  
"Hey Tenchi" Minagi said, sliding the door wide open. She was the only one in the room at the time, which surprised Tenchi a little.  
"Um, Minagi" He started, double checking to make sure it was her. "Where's Ryoko"  
"Oh, she's waiting for you outside" Minagi grinned, giving him a little wink.  
"Oh, ok, thanks"

Tenchi began to walk back down the hall, hearing Minagi call out to him.  
"Make sure she has a good time Tenchi!" she said, closing the door as Tenchi walked down the stairs, bumping into Kiyone.  
"Oh, sorry Kiyone" he apologised, trying to continue along before she grabbed his arm.  
"Tenchi, I need a favour" she said, not really noticing his change of clothes.  
"Sure, what is it?" Tenchi asked as she let go of him.  
"I need to borrow some of your clothes for Matthew. So we can take him shopping"  
"Oh, of course, check in the left side of the wardrobe for some spare clothes" he said, before continuing on his way, receiving a thanks from Kiyone as he made his way to the front door.

Slipping on his shoes, looking out of the front door for any sign of Ryoko. Unable to see her, he walked outside, looking around.  
"Where is she?" he said to himself, scratching the back of his head.  
"Looking for someone?" Ryoko said from behind him, leaning against the side of the house, next to the door. She smiled as Tenchi turned around, seeing the expression on his face. "What do you think?"

She walked over to him, spinning around once to show off the dress she was wearing. It was a simple, yet sexy red dress that showed off Ryoko's figure, along a lot of cleavage. A slit down she lower half of the dress showed off one of her legs and a black lace-stocking.  
Tenchi was speechless, and blushing heavily, finding it hard to form words.  
"Y-y-you look, great. Amazing even" Tenchi stuttered.  
"I'm glad you think so, I hope your going to take me somewhere nice"

Smiling, Ryoko latched onto Tenchi's arm, walking off with him, ready to enjoy a good night out. Unknown to them, someone was watching them quietly.  
"What on earth does she think she is doing with Lord Tenchi?" Ayeka fumed, watching them leave from inside the house, before she could try and leave to go after them, Minagi stood in front of her.  
"Easy now Ayeka, Ryoko's earned this" she said.

Ayeka glared at Ryoko's sister, before sitting down, trying to act calm.  
"Well, she does one little bit of work and gets to go on a date with Tenchi as a reward? What do I get?" she said, clenching her fists.  
"You haven't exactly done a lot of work yourself Ayeka"  
Ayeka went silent, letting Minagi walk off to let her think.

--------------------

Matt sat there in the onsen, taking his time to wash himself. He couldn't remember the last time that he'd taken a bath in a place like this, he'd only ever used the showers on his ship or at HQ.

"Minagi would have loved this place" he thought, a smile creeping onto his face as he remembered some of the times that they had spent a long, hot bath together. Unfortunately, he was kicked back into reality when someone called out.  
"Hey! You better dry off, else we'll never get there!" Kiyone said, placing a towel next to his clothes. 

There was a silence between the two, neither had anything g important to say.  
"Feeling better now?" Kiyone asked, trying to break the ice. "I heard that you'd been really tired lately"  
"Yeah, it was just a lack of energy" Matt replied, turning around to look at Kiyone. "But I should be fine now"  
"That's good. Anyway, you should hurry up, Sasami's already waiting"

Kiyone gave him a half-hearted wave before leaving the onsen again. She stood outside the door, feeling herself smile a little, knowing that he was doing well.

--------------------

Things had gone by quite smoothly around the shops. Matthew, Kiyone and Sasami had been going around for an hour and they had already picked out some clothes for him. But Matt was feeling tired again, almost ready to fall asleep right now.  
"So, where are we going next?" he asked.  
"Well, I need to pick a few things up for dinner" Sasami said, before whispering to Kiyone.  
"What? Why do I have to do that?" Kiyone said, catching Matt's attention.  
"It's not like he has to try them on" Sasami replied, before looking at Matt. "I may be a while, so we'll meet back here in an hour"

She smiled, dashing off towards the food stalls, leaving Kiyone with Matthew.  
"What did she want you to do?" Matt asked, yawning slightly.  
"She wanted me to get you some" Kiyone went silent, not wanting to say it.  
"Go on"  
"…" Kiyone muttered it quietly, so he couldn't hear her.  
"Pardon" Matt grinned, trying to enjoy this.  
"…underwear"  
"Say that again, I didn't quite hear you"  
"She wants me to get you some underwear! Ok?" Kiyone shouted, causing a lot of heads to turn in their direction and making them both blush.  
"R-right, in that case, we should move on"

Matt grabbed Kiyone by the arm, pulling her away from the crowd, leaving them to get back to their business.  
"Ha, haha" Kiyone started to giggle as they turned a corner.  
"What's so funny"  
"The look on your face, that was priceless" Kiyone laughed.  
"Your one to talk, I'm not the one who went bright red" Matt said as the started to walk on. "Well, lets say that this is one less that you owe me"  
"What?"

Kiyone stopped, looking at him awkwardly.  
"What do you mean?" she asked.  
"Well, you tied me up for no good reason, and I've covered for you" he stopped thinking about it. "Three times now"  
"I see, so this takes it down to two"  
"Try three, I'm counting the fact that you tied me up as one"  
"Ah, but I trusted you to take control of the guns when we were attacked by space pirates" Kiyone reminded him.  
"Ok, I guess that's fair"  
"And when we were on Darkfox's ship, you hit me on the head with a pistol"  
"Alright, but you still owe me one after we do this"

--------------------

"Wow, this place is nice" Tenchi said, looking around the restaurant that Ryoko had picked. "I hope it's not too expensive"  
"Don't worry Tenchi" Ryoko said, smiling as they were led to a table, she sat down, crossing her legs, smiling at Tenchi as he sat opposite her.  
"I'll have the menu with you in a moment sir" the waiter said, before walking off.

Tenchi sat there, feeling a little nervous. It wouldn't be so bad if Ryoko wasn't wearing a dress that screamed 'Look at my tits'. Still, things were going peacefully, Tenchi thought this may be a nice evening.

Ryoko was enjoying this, she loved making Tenchi so nervous. She thought it made him look even cuter. She was glad that she finally had Tenchi to herself, there was no need to be so possessive when the others weren't around.  
Ayeka may be her rival for Tenchi's affection, but she didn't like seeing Mihoshi and Washu trying to get his attention. She wasn't so bothered about Sasami, the little princess would still have to wait at least one hundred years before she looked mature enough for him.

"Your menu's" the waiter said, coming over to the Table and laying down a booklet in front of them both. "Would you like a drink while your deciding"  
"Um, no thank you" Tenchi replied, acting politely.  
"Bring me some of your best Sake!" Ryoko ordered, watching as the man left.

"Where was I?" Ryoko thought, "Oh yeah, Sasami's still too young for him"  
Ryoko was surprised that Kiyone wasn't her main rival in this. After all, Kiyone was the normal one in the group as far as she could tell, and she seemed to be in control a lot of the time. Plus, someone who could keep calm after spending so much time with Mihoshi was a force to be reckoned with.

"Wow, they've got a lot of nice stuff here" Tenchi said as he browsed through the menu.  
"I know, why don't we order one of everything?" Ryoko joked, smiling at him.  
"Come on Ryoko, you know I couldn't afford that"

Ryoko sat there, smiling at him, slipping a foot out of one of her shoes.  
"Tenchi, you don't think my dress is a little much do you?" she asked, trying to keep a serious face.  
"Ah, I don't know Ryoko." Tenchi stuttered a little, trying not to look at her chest again. "M-maybe a little"  
"Oh, in that case, I could always take it off" Ryoko said, casually reaching around to the back of her dress.  
"No!" Tenchi said, almost raising his voice and getting the attention of the people just around him.  
"Heheh, just kidding!" Ryoko smirked at him, watching him blush.  
"Ryoko" Tenchi sighed, staring down at the menu to hide his embarrassment "I know, we can always do this when we get back home. Until then, I'll have my fun."

Tenchi looked at her awkwardly, before almost jumping from his seat as he felt her foot moving up his leg, towards his nether-regions.  
"R-ryoko" Tenchi struggled for words as he felt her foot touching something delicate. "What are you doing"  
"Just like I said, I'm having my fun" Ryoko replied, smirking at him.  
"Oh no" Tenchi sighed "What have I got myself into?" He asked himself before feeling a poke from Ryoko, forcing him to sit upright.  
"Just wait until we get back home Tenchi"

--------------------

"Ah, its finally over" Matthew said happily as the Masaki home came into view. He was glad that the shopping experience was over.  
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad was it?" Kiyone replied.  
"Well, spending some time out was ok" Matt started, yawning as he paused. "But having two girls choosing all my clothes for me wasn't as fun as I thought it would be"  
"Aww, your no fun" Sasami said as she walked past "I'm going to start on dinner, wanna help"  
"Sure, it beats lying around"  
"I'll lend a hand too" Kiyone added, walking along with them as they hurried inside.

--------------------

Tokimi watched Washu as she thought carefully, obviously trying to decide whether she could trust the goddess or not. It was obvious that the little genius had been drawn in by the knowledge that she had been offered, it would be very hard to refuse.

"Well sister? Have you made your choice?" Tokimi spoke out.  
"I don't know. There has to be a catch, you wouldn't let me get all this knowledge without expecting something in return now, would you"  
"I already told you, I only want to be with my dear sister's once again. Nothing more"  
"Hmm"

As Washu continued to think, a light began to shine behind her.  
"Washu, Washu are you alright?" Tsunami's voice called out as she came into view, taking hold of Washu's arm, causing everything around them to disappear.  
"Ah, what's going on?" Washu said as she looked around, seeing that she was back in her lab.  
"You just seemed to be staring into space, I was worried" Sasami replied, who had taken the place of Tsunami.  
"Don't worry Sasami, I was just; thinking"  
"Ok, well come on then, dinners almost ready!"

--------------------

"So Tsunami is keeping a close eye on her" Tokimi said to herself, watching D3 come into view.  
"What will we do my lady? If Tsunami is watching over her, we will not be able to draw her in" He said, looking at his master.  
"There are other ways" Tokimi replied "Prepare yourself for a journey. I think it's time we paid a visit to earth"  
"Very well, I shall make sure that our vessel is ready"

D3 vanished, leaving Tokimi alone again.  
"Soon Washu, soon everything will be ours again"

--------------------

Authors corner - Well, that's another chapter over, and just in time for the 360. This means that chapter 14 wont be started until after Christmas is over.

Seeing how we have a wacky new rule that means were not allowed to respond to reviews at the start or end of a chapter, I'll have to respond to everyone personally.  
But it should still be alright for me to thank you for your reviews and I hope you continue reading this story!

Next chapter! The aftermath of a date, the journey of an enemy or ally and the departure of a friend. 


	14. Tenchi's Choice

Matt paced back and forth, along the corridor outside Ryoko's room, talking to himself quietly so he wouldn't wake anyone up. He was wearing some of the new clothes that he had bought earlier today, a blood-red shirt and a pair of blue jeans. He tugged the jeans up a little before continuing to pace.

"Hmm, these are definitely too long" he said to himself. "That doesn't matter right now. Ah man, what am I supposed to say? Should I even say anything?"

He started moving towards the door, before backing away.

"She's probably sleeping right now anyway, so I could worry about this later." He began pacing again, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "But I should really get this out now, before it really starts bothering me"

"Before what starts bothering you?" Minagi said as she opened the door, looking at Matthew, causing him to jump back in shock.

"Ah, Minagi, you scared me then. Why aren't you asleep?" Matt asked holding his chest as he calmed down.

Minagi smiled, leaning against the doorframe as she looked at him.

"It's kind of hard to sleep when someone's mumbling outside your room" She replied.

"Oh, um sorry about that" Matt apologized.

"No it's ok" Migani said as she stretched her arm up in the air and yawned before looking at him again "Something you wanted to talk about?"

"Um, I ah" Matt murmured "No, it's not important, it can wait" Matt replied, looking down at his feet.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Get some sleep"

Minagi smiled again, before closing door slowly, saying goodnight to Matt just before she went out of site. Matt sighed before making his way back downstairs to the sofa.

--------------------

Tenchi lay face down in his bed, he hadn't got home until late last night, his head was still pounding from all the sake that he had drunk and as he slowly woke up, he realized there was something warm and soft resting against him.

"Oh no" Tenchi thought to himself as slowly moved himself around, before he found himself looking at Ryoko, who was sleeping peacefully, with her arms loosely wrapped around him. "We didn't..." He started, just as Ryoko started to move around.

"Mmm, nope" She said quietly, drawing herself closer to him and resting her head against his chest. "You drank too much and passed out on the way back home. I flew us back here and" Ryoko stopped to look up at Tenchi and smiled.

"A-and what?" Tenchi replied, still feeling a little nervous.

"Well, I wanted to make sure you would be alright, so I stayed here with you"

Tenchi smiled gently, before sitting up.

"Thanks Ryoko. I'm kind of glad we didn't, do anything" He said, taking off the shirt that he had worn and put a clean one on.

"Why? Aren't I good enough for you?" Ryoko asked, sitting up in the bed and covering herself with the sheets.

"No, it's not that. I really do care about you Ryoko" Tenchi replied as he sat next to Ryoko. "I just, need more time. Just so I can be sure"

"I guess, but I don't see why"

"Just give me one week Ryoko. I should have an answer by then"

Tenchi leaned over towards Ryoko as she looked down, thinking about what he said. He placed a hand on her shoulder and kissed her cheek softly.

"Trust me Ryoko. It's just something I have to do, ok?"

"Ok Tenchi" Ryoko replied softly as she blushed, starting to think that things would be ok.

"Thank you" Tenchi said, just as he began to yawn.

Ryoko smiled, watching as Tenchi continued to get changed, she felt so happy right now. Tenchi was so close to being hers and now they were just one small step away.

"Can I tell Minagi? I'm sure she'll want to know how things went" Ryoko asked.

"Sure, as long as she promises not to tell the others" Tenchi replied as he pulled stepped into one of his pants legs and pulled it up.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll keep quiet about it!" Ryoko giggled as she teleported out of the room, leaving Tenchi alone to finish getting dressed.

"Hmm, that went well. Now, how am I supposed to break the news to the others?"

--------------------

Breakfast had been rather quiet; Ryoko had ignored all the questions from Ayeka, and just ate with a smug look on her face, which worried most people at the table. The silence was broken however, when Minagi announced that she was leaving after breakfast. After a few tears, everyone had gathered outside, ready to say goodbye.

"Thanks for letting me stay everyone, it was fun" Minagi said, Hinase floating over the lake.

"Come back soon, 'kay Minagi?" Sasami said cheerfully, waving to her.

"Heh, count on it Sasami"

"Um, Minagi?" Matt said lightly, stepping up to her.

Minagi looked at the boy, it was clear to everyone there that he was a little nervous.

"What is it?" she asked, walking up to him.

"Well, I uh, I wanted to say thanks, for um" He started, struggling to find the words. "Heh, you'd think this would get easier over time" he rubbed the back of his head as he made a nervous chuckle.

"Thank me for what?"

"I loved you" Matt said slowly "Uh, I mean, my you" he corrected himself.

"Yeah, I know, so how do I come into this?"

"Um, I guess until I came here, I ah, I could never accept that she was gone. But seeing you around here, it kind of made it easier to remind myself that I have to move on"

"That's good to know, at least now you can move on. You know what they say"

"That there's plenty more fish in the sea?" Matt interrupted her, getting the jist of what she was going to say.

"Well, I was going to say there's still a bunch of asteroids waiting around the universe. But I guess that works too" Minagi finished, smiling at him.

She moved a little closer, giving him a big hug, and whispering into his ear.

"And just so you know, there's a few asteroids that have fallen nearby, if you know what I mean"

"Heh, yeah, I get you" Matt replied, smiling himself as Minagi let go of him and made her way to her ship.

"Bye everyone! See you again sometime!" Minagi called out, waving to everyone before being teleported into Hinase.

Everyone shouted goodbye and waved as Hinase took off, flying up into the sky and slowly making its way into the distance.

"It was fun while it lasted" Ryoko said, with a big grin of her face. "Well, I've got stuff to do!" she announced to everyone before phasing out of view.

"Um, miss Ayeka" Tenchi said, getting her attention as everyone made their way back inside.

"Yes lord Tenchi?"

"May I talk with you? Alone?" he asked.

"Oh, yes of course! Anything for you Tenchi" Ayeka replied, beaming with happiness as she made her way over to him.

"May as well get the hardest one out of the way" Tenchi thought, trying to keep a smile on his face.

--------------------

"My Lady, are you comfortable?" D3 asked, as a small version of his head appeared inside of a space cruiser that had been created in an instant by Tokimi.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just not used to taking a solid form, it feels strange." Tokimi said, standing in large room and looking out into space as they traveled.

"Is this really what you want to do? You have never left your palace before, and your new body will limit your powers"

Tokimi smiled, watching as her palace in space went out of view.

"I am sure, one way or another, I will see my sisters face to face and begin my plans"

"Do you really think it will work? When you contacted Washu before, Tsunami came to protect her"

"Tsunami is not vital to the plan, I only need one of them. But getting both of them would be helpful"

"I see, well I shall see to the vessel my lady." D3 said as he faded away.

Tokimi nodded, still looking out into space.

"I will have to give him a solid form as well. I will need some help if Washu does not accept me" she said to herself as she felt her body ache. "Again? Why does it act like this?" She said, not knowing about the limits she had put upon herself by taking a humanoid body.

--------------------

"Hmm" Azaka pondered, looking up into the sky.

"Is something bothering you Azaka?" Kamedake asked, turning to face the other guardian.

"No, I'm just disappointed that we were not taken along to fight against that space pirate"

"Still?"

"Yes, I feel like we are being left out a lot"

"Well, that usually seems to be how it goes around here. We don't get to see everything that happens around the house, so we tend to get left out"

Azaka looked at Kamedake, before looking over the lake.

"I suppose that you are right, but I just wish we had better roles in this story, that's all" He said.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll think of something that we can be used for, apart from being used as a filler" Kamedake reassured him. "And I think that moment may be now"

"Oh?"

Azaka turned to see what Kamedake was looking at, and saw Ayeka walking towards them, clearly upset.

"Is there something wrong princess?" Kamedake asked as the guardians floated to her side.

"Tenchi" Ayeka blurted out, before starting to cry.

"Did something happen to him?" Azaka asked.

"Tenchi doesn't love me!" Ayeka cried. "He said he loves that demon hussy Ryoko"

"Surely not princess, there is no way that a Jurai princess could loose to a space pirate"

"Your right Azaka, it must be a trick! She must have used something to fool my lord Tenchi!"

Ayeka stood with fire in her eyes, a clenched fist held up courageously.

"Azaka! Kamedake!" she commanded

"Yes ma'am!" the wooden guardians responded.

"Let up prepare for battle! We shall win back Tenchi's heart!"

"Yay! We mean, right away princess!"

--------------------

Ryoko walked around her room, moving some of her things around. It was surprising just how much space there was when her room was clean and tidy.

"Need a hand Ryoko?" matt asked from outside her room, peering inside.

"Oh, sure, could you put my clothes on the bed for me?" Ryoko replied, smiling.

"No problem" Matt walked in, picking up a top before spotting a lacy red bra. "Then again" He gulped, blushing a little.

Ryoko floated by him, snatching up the Bra as placing it on the bed.

"Just pick up my stuff, don't worry about the underwear if you going to freeze every time you go to pick one up" Ryoko said, still with a smile on her face.

"Fine, fine. So what's got you so cheerful?" Matt asked, starting to notice that she wasn't acting like her usual self.

"Well, I promised not to tell anyone." Ryoko stared, picking up a few bottles of sake and placing them in a rather large pile. "But me and Tenchi just got together!"

"Wow. Um, congratulations?"

Ryoko nodded, before looking around to see what else needed to be done.

"I just can't wait to see the look on Ayeka's face when she finds out" Ryoko laughed, already looking forward to all the gloating she could have.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's going to go peacefully" Matt said, before hearing an odd noise in the distance. But he decided to ignore it for now. "So Tenchi's moving into your room then?"

"Yep, more room up here. Either way, it means you may get your own room now" Ryoko replied

"Great, some privacy at last" Matt said, placing a group of clothes down, before hearing something again. "Do you hear something Ryoko?"

"Yeah. What is that?"

They looked around, as the sound became louder and clearer.

"RYOKO!" Ayeka was shouting, as she and her guardians flew towards the house at high speed, aiming for Ryoko's room.

"Oh crap" Matt said, as he saw the princess coming at them.

"Don't worry, I've got you!" Ryoko said, phasing behind Matthew and teleporting the pair of them outside.

Ryoko watched on as the Masaki home was hit by its first explosion in quite a while. Ayeka and her guardians flew back out of the ruined room, landing outside, in front of Ryoko and Matthew.

--------------------

"Well now, what have we here?" Washu said as she wondered around her lab, looking through her old inventions. "I didn't think that there were any spare bodies left, I could have some fun with this"

Bringing her computer into view out of nowhere, she pressed a few buttons, moving the item she'd seen to a better location so it would be easier to get to.

"Hmm, I wonder if there's anything else here" she thought as she looked around, unfortunately there was nothing apart from all the experiments that Mihoshi had destroyed. "Maybe not, I could do with removing this section and setting up a new area"

Pressing a few more buttons, all the machines and the area around her disappeared, leaving her in a blank space with only her computer.

"Now then, what should I have?" she said as she looked for ideas. "Well now, this could be good for the others"

She pressed a button, creating a new section for the lab, watching as it formed around her. As it finished creating itself, Washu felt the lab shake from the force of an explosion.

"Oh, now what are they up to?"

--------------------

"Azaka, Kamedake! Go get her!" Ayeka shouted in her battle gear and she faced off with Ryoko.

"Yes Ma'am!" Her guardians replied, acknowledging her order as they flew at Ryoko to attack.

"Matt, get out of the way, I can handle this" Ryoko said, watching the guardians as she stood easily, not worried about them.

"Are you sure?" Matt replied watching on, looking a little more worried then Ryoko.

"Yes! Go!"

"Ok, thanks! Good Luck!" Matt shouted, already halfway to the house in a wild sprint.

"This is our big chance Kamedake! Let's not waste it!" Azaka said as he and Kamedake flew towards Ryoko at great speed.

"Got it, let's make this count!" Kamedake agreed before they both lunged in quickly.

"YAAHH!" Ryoko shouted out, firing an energy ball at the guardians, forcing them back the way they came.

"Well, there goes our moment in the spotlight" Kamedake said, a little bluntly.

"Yes, it should have been expected"

The guardians flew past Ayeka, crashing into the side of the Masaki household as Tenchi and the girls ran outside.

"What on earth's going on now?" Tenchi asked, before seeing the standoff between Ryoko and Ayeka "Never mind"

"It's Ayeka, she just attacked without warning!" Matt said, catching his breath after dashing over to him.

"Did Ryoko do something to her? She doesn't usually get this angry" Kiyone said.

"No, Ryoko's been cleaning her room, I was helping her when Ayeka came out of nowhere"

"Um, everybody" Mihoshi tried to interrupt them.

"What is it?" Kiyone asked, before seeing the worried look on Mihoshi's face.

Turning around, she watched Ayeka dash at Ryoko, flying at high speed, ready to throw a powerful punch and Ryoko.

"Ryoko! I'll make you pay for what you've done!" Ayeka shouted out as she got close enough to Ryoko to hit her. Ryoko simply leaned back and but up a barrier, forcing Ayeka to fly back, heading straight toward everyone else.

"AHHH!" Mihoshi cried out as Ayeka came hurtling towards her and the others. Everyone let out a slight yelp and quickly braced themselves, closing their eye's as Ayeka was about to fly into them.

"Don't worry, I've got her" Washu said calmly, appearing out of nowhere with a barrier of her own that caught Ayeka and let her slide down onto the ground.

"Washu, how did you" Matt started, before Tenchi put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Probably best not to ask, if there's a way to do something, Washu can find it." He said.

"That's right, I am the greatest scientific genius in the universe after all. But I can gloat later" Washu said, pressing a few buttons to let down the barrier. "Now, what's going on here?"

"Why don't you ask that demon child of yours? She's the one who's done something to Tenchi!" Ayeka shouted, standing up ready for another attack at her opponent. "She's brainwashed Tenchi!"

"What?" Tenchi said, a little confused.

"What does she mean?" Sasami asked, curious to why Ayeka would think this.

"I think were going to find out when this is all over" Matt replied, he had a good idea about why Ayeka was thinking like this right now.

Ayeka flew at Ryoko again, throwing punches at her. But Ryoko casually swayed out of the way of Ayeka's attacks.

"I don't know why your bothering princess. You know you can't land a punch. Besides, as much as I like to see you suffer like this, Tenchi chose me over you" Ryoko said, smiling as that last sentence came out of her mouth.

"You liar!" Ayeka shouted, kicking Ryoko and forcing her to topple to the floor.

"Alright, I was going to let you waste your energy, but now you asked for it!" Ryoko said, before getting up and flying at Ayeka, charging up an energy ball, ready to strike.

"Ryoko!" Tenchi shouted, blocking her path.

Everything stopped in that moment. Ryoko let her energy ball disappear and landed on the ground. Ayeka watched them, waiting for anything. Everyone just watched in silence as everything happened.

"I'm sorry Tenchi, I almost let my anger get the better of me" Ryoko said, walking over to him and smiling, half-heartedly.

"It's ok. Everyone's fine and now we can settle this." Tenchi replied, speaking to her softly, before looking at Ayeka. "Ayeka, this isn't a trick or spell. I love Ryoko and I want to be with her"

"WHAT?" Most of the girls shouted at the sudden revelation.

"I see, so it is true" Ayeka said, looking a little glum. "I'm sorry Tenchi"

Ayeka walked back into the house, as some of the girls went back inside.

"Congratulations Ryoko" Kiyone said, "I hope you'll be happy together" she smiled, pulling on Mihoshi's arm for her to come in, leaving Tenchi and Ryoko alone.

"Hmm? What is it?" Tenchi asked, noticing the large smirk on Ryoko's face.

"You said you love me" Ryoko replied, walking over to him and hugging him. "It felt nice to hear you say that"

"Yeah, and it felt so natural saying it" Tenchi said "Come on, I think we should talk to the others"

As Tenchi and Ryoko walked inside, hand-in-hand, only Azaka and Kamedake were left outside. Both were upside-down and stuck in the side of the house.

"Just another usual day on the planet earth" Azaka said.

"Yeah, just another day Azaka" Kamedake agreed.

--------------------

"This was certainly a big surprise" Mihoshi said, as the girls watched Tenchi and Ryoko from the living room.

"I know, I thought he would have gone for someone more mature then Ryoko" Washu added.

"Washu, your the definition of 'Mature' you know?" Kiyone replied, smirking at the little genius.

"What's the matter Kiyone? Jealous?" Sasami asked, a grin of her own on her face.

Kiyone just smiled back, going away from the window to sit down. Matt watched the others dash away from the window as Tenchi and Ryoko came back inside.

"Are you?" Matt asked Kiyone

"No, not really, I was never really interested in Tenchi anyway" Kiyone replied, sighing a little. "I can't really think of any guys that caught my interest anyway, well, not many at least"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, but I'm not going to get into that right now"

As Ryoko and Tenchi sat down in the living room, Washu decided to tap away on her laptop.

"I'll go and re-create your room Ryoko" she said as she walked off to the stairs.

"Alright, thanks" Ryoko replied, not really paying attention.

"Should I add the whips and chains?"

"Yeah, sure whatever" Ryoko paused "Wait, what did you say? Mom!" Ryoko floated after Washu as she dashed up the stairs laughing.

--------------------

"We are about to arrive on earth my lady" D3 said, appearing beside Tokimi.

"Good, do not bother landing, have me transported down"

"Very well, is there anything else?"

"No" Tokimi said, looking down at earth. "Just be ready if I need any help"

"Of course"

D3 disappeared as Tokimi's spaceship came to a halt.

"I wonder what she's going to think when she sees me?" Tokimi thought, the room glowing as the transporter came to life and sent her down to the planets surface.

--------------------

"What the?" Washu said, stopping on her way to Ryoko's room. Ryoko on the other hand, didn't expect Washu to stop and flew right into her. "Ow! Careful where your going Ryoko!"

"Well, maybe if you didn't stop just like that! Wait, why did you stop anyway?"

"I just picked up an immense power right by us."

"Where exactly?" Ryoko asked, as the two of them stood up.

"Hang on, I'm trying to find out"

Washu typed away quickly, homing in on the powers source.

"It right outside!" Washu said, running past Ryoko to make her way outside. Ryoko flew after Washu, grabbing her so they could both phase outside.

"Well, I don't see anyone" Ryoko said, looking around carefully while Washu checked her data.

"I don't get it, she should be right here"

They both stood there, slowly surveying the scene, before a voice spoke out to them.

"Hello sister. Its good to finally meet you in person"

--------------------

Authors corner - Well, I had my Christmas break, and I'm back in time to get this chapter up before the end of the month. Didn't spend as much time with my 360 as I expected, there hasn't been as many games out that I like yet.

But as a bonus, I got the full series of Tenchi Universe and Tenchi in Tokyo for Christmas! Yay me!

Anyway, thank you for your reviews; I'll reply to the ones that I can, as soon as this is uploaded. A

Note - A Fan made a good point that I forgot about; Ayeka does indeed do a fair amount of work around the house.

Next chapter! A confrontation, a weakness and something hidden making itself known.


	15. Enter Tokimi

Tokimi looked at Ryoko and Washu, her expressionless face just staring at them. Ryoko wasn't sure what to do here, or who the woman even was, but Washu knew. She knew who it was that was standing before her and why she was here, but she still didn't know enough about Tokimi, apart from the fact that she was powerful and could be a deadly foe.

"What are you doing here?" Washu asked

"Oh come now, you should already know the answer to that"

"Your right, but why come here yourself? If you really are a goddess, surely you've got a few lackeys who would do anything you want"

"She's a Goddess?" Ryoko butted in, looking at Washu, who sighed and shook her head.

"I don't know, it's what she wants us to believe at least" Washu replied to her daughter, before looking back at Tokimi. "Well?"

"I got tired of waiting. Besides, I thought it would be more fun this way" Tokimi replied, smiling a little. Just enough to send a chill down both Ryoko and Washu's spines.

"Hey, what's going on Washu? Who's that?" Mihoshi asked as she and other members of the Masaki household stepped outside after spotting the woman from inside the lounge.

"I see, you've tried to keep this quiet Washu. Although one of them already knows who I am, don't you child?" Tokimi said, looking at Sasami, who nodded in reply. "I am the goddess Tokimi, I am not here to fight with you, I just wish to; wish to..." Tokimi fell to her knees all of a sudden, her legs feeling weak after standing still in her ship for so long.

"Are you ok?" Mihoshi asked, trying to head over to her, before Washu blocked her way.

"Don't, she may be trying to fool us"

Tokimi looked down at her legs, not used to the laws of having a real body, she looked at all the people before her.

"How do you people survive, your body grows tired over time, and it always aches here, growling so much" she said as she pointed to her stomach.

"Heh, you must be hungry" Sasami said, smiling. She didn't feel anything evil about the woman, just that she seemed to be misunderstood.

"Hunger? Of course, you need nourishment to keep your energy up"

"Come on" Sasami said, walking over to the goddess and offering a hand. "You probably need some rest after your journey"

Tokimi looked at Sasami, perplexed at her actions. It took her a moment, but she did take Sasami's hand, being helped up and taken into the house. The others followed her in, leaving Matt, Tenchi, Ryoko and Washu standing outside.

"Do you think we can trust her Washu?" Tenchi asked, watching everyone else heading towards the kitchen.

"I don't know, we should keep an eye on her just to be sure"

"What's she doing here?" Ryoko asked, moving over to Tenchi and taking hold of his arm.

"It's not important, I'll tell you another time. Come on, we better get in there"

Matt watched the others go into the house, before looking up at they sky and thinking to himself about the woman he had just seen.

"There's something about her" He thought, "Something strange, yet familiar"

"Matt, are you coming or what?" Ryoko called out, poking her head out from the lounge and breaking his train of thought.

"What? Um, yeah, I'm on my way!"

--------------------

"What power; that woman is something else, that's for sure"

Back in Matt's subconscious, surrounded by the darkness, his evil self floated around, watching everything that was going on.

"Perhaps she could have the power to free me from this body. If I could find a way to reach her" he said to himself, his voice echoing throughout the darkness around him.

He continued to watch as Matt made his way to the dinner table, sitting between Sasami and Washu. Tokimi was sat almost opposite him.

"Hmm, perhaps if I focus on this" he thought, reaching out through the darkness. "Help me! Let me free of this cage"

--------------------

Tokimi looked around, she had felt a force trying to reach her, but couldn't tell where it came from. Deciding to ignore it, she looked back down at the plate in front of her, eyeing up the food before her.

She never had to eat before, and it felt odd watching these people treat her so well without and worry or fear. Watching the tanned blonde woman, Tokimi decided to try and mimic her actions, taking up some of the chopsticks, she took a piece of food from the plate with ease and placed it in her mouth.

"What is this?" she thought to herself as she began to chew, the tastes coming from the food bringing on some new feeling to her. "It is, incredible! This feeling, the taste. So interesting and fulfilling" the thought again, swallowing the food so she could eat some more.

"What do you think?" Sasami asked, looking at Tokimi with a small smile.

"It's" Tokimi blurted, her mouth full of rice. She swallowed before she could continue. "It is amazing, I see why you do this to keep up your energy. It feels so good"

Sasami giggled, watching the goddess continue her meal in a state of bliss.

"I'm glad you like it. I made it myself" she said happily.

"How? What materials do you use to make this?"

"Through a lot of hard work" Washu said "It takes a lot of time to make this, we have to let it grow, and then prepare it so it can be eaten. This isn't made out of thin air"

"Intriguing, you work in order to create so that you may survive. Perhaps there are some things I'm yet to understand"

Ryoko grinned, phasing over to Tokimi and offering her some Sake.

"Here, drink this, it always helps your meal go down" she said, getting ready to pour some into a small bowl for her, but Washu quickly grabbed her, pulling her away from the goddess.

"No you don't, I'm not going to have you trying to get her drunk. Who knows hat she could do if she looses control of herself?" the little genius said, trying to be thorough.

"Here you go, drink up!" Mihoshi said from behind Washu, pouring some Sake for Tokimi.

"Thank you"

"Mihoshi!" Washu shouted, trying to stop her, but it was too late, Tokimi had already drank what she had been given. "Oh god..."

"This is interesting too, it tastes nice, yet leaves some heat within my body" Tokimi said, savouring another new taste. "Wait, it's doing something else, affecting my body, loosening my control."

"Not good, she probably thinks were trying to drug her now!" Washu said, watching as Tokimi bowed her head down, muttering to herself quietly for a moment.

"Do you think she's alright?" Kiyone asked.

"I'm more worried about the rest of us right now" Washu replied.

They all watched Tokimi silently, waiting for a movement. She slowly sat upright again, looking at everyone.

"It makes me feel good, I want more!" Tokimi said, not noticing that she was blushing, or smiling happily due to the sake. Washu felt herself falling flat on her face, but quickly recovered.

"Great, a drunk goddess. What next?" Tenchi said to himself, sighing as the number of girls making residence here seemed to keep on going up.

--------------------

"Well this wasn't what I was expecting" Washu said, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the lounge. Tokimi was sat down with Ryoko and Mihoshi, drinking Sake and giggling like a child.

"Well, maybe she's not as dangerous as you thought" Tenchi replied, standing behind the genius. "Unless less eating everything in the house is classed as evil now"

"Heh, funny" Washu replied sarcastically, frowning a little. "I know there's something about her, she wants something. She's just been distracted by all these things she's never tried before"

Tokimi downed another bottle of Sake along with Ryoko, the two seemed to be rivalling each other in how much they could take.

"Oh, I feel so strange. This is so good, yet it makes a part of me feel strange" Tokimi said, feeling the affect and the forced her to lie back into the sofa.

"Just wait into you wake up in the morning. That's when it really gets you" Ryoko replied, not really feeling the affects of the Sake.

"I think she's had enough Ryoko" Kiyone said, taking a bottle away from Tokimi. "I think you need to learn a little about self control"

Matt smiled from his spot next to Sasami, before leaning over to ask her a question.

"Hey Sasami, do you think that woman's really a goddess?" he asked "She seems a little carefree to be someone that's meant to be all-powerful and wise"

"Well" Sasami replied, thinking it over a little. "You know I'm sure everyone has a weakness, even a goddess"

"Weaknesses like going into a state of bliss from one bite of food?"

"It's possible. But I think so, there's something about her that makes me believe its true"

Matt nodded, watching the goddess a moment longer.

"You know what I could do with right now?" he asked to no-one in particular, "Bran flakes"

"What?" Sasami said, looking at him oddly. "We were talking about goddesses, how did we suddenly get to bran; wait, why ask? There's so many strange things that go on here that make this seem like nothing."

"Sorry about that, my mind wanders from time to time. I'm a little bit of a day dreamer"

"Right, well I'm going to go outside for a while, see you later Matt"

"Bye Sasami" Matt waved lightly, watching Ryo-Ohki bound after the princess. "She's a nice kid, wonder how she copes?"

--------------------

"Perhaps if you could open your mind you would see why" Matt's dark side said, as he watched everything that happened from his prison. He was growing impatient and frustrated. He had tried many times to contact Tokimi.

At first she had looked around, showing signs that she could feel his presence. One time she had even looked directly at Matt. That was until she's started drinking with Ryoko, from that point on it was useless to do anything. Every time he tried to call out to her, she just giggled.

Once again, he was stuck listening to Matt and what he did. He caught the stalled glimpses he would take at a few of the women around the room, lingering for a moment at their chests or rears before darting to their face to make sure that no one caught him.

His dark side often felt like shouting out that he'd seen it, but it would be no use, Matt could never hear him. He felt satisfied in the thought that Matt was too dumb for it, that he didn't have the power to hear the spirits.

"I suppose I'll have to wait until she recovers herself before I try again. Even someone who claims to be a goddess can be turned for a moment" he spoke to himself, watching as Matt got up and walked up some stairs. "When I'm released from this cell in your mind, I'll show you someone to be afraid of"

--------------------

It wasn't long after this that Mihoshi had taken Tokimi over to the onsen. Of course Washu had to follow, in order to keep an eye on things, so she decided to drag Ryoko along for the sake of it.

Meanwhile, Ayeka was at Katsuhito's shrine, sitting with her brother while her guardians stood outside. She had been talking with him for a while, abut everything that had happened, how she had reacted, and what she thought about it all.

"What about Sasami?" Katsuhito asked, looking at Ayeka with a little uncertainty.

"I don't know, it would be good for me to have her there. But I suppose it should be her choice, she has grown some roots here" Ayeka replied, her head bowed down to hide the sadness on her face.

"Ayeka, are you sure this what you want to do? I understand how you feel about what happened."

"Yes I'm sure Yosho, its about time I went to visit the rest of my family anyway. It would give me time to clear my head"

"I see, well if that is your wish"

Ayeka moved her head to look at Katsuhito, bowing to him slightly.

"I'll take my leave tomorrow brother, please come to bid me farewell"

"Of course."

Ayeka bowed again, standing up and walking to the door, opening it up, just as she left. Katsuhito stood up.

"Ayeka." he said, waiting for her to turn around. "Be careful, something feel's amiss"

"Yes brother, I'll keep an eye on things" Ayeka replied.

She made her exit quickly, her guardians following her back down to the Masaki household.

--------------------

Kiyone was sat in front of the television along with Tenchi. Sasami had decided to join the other in the onsen. Kiyone had the remote and was browsing through the channels to see what was on.

"You know, this may be the first time we get to watch something decent without having to wait for Sasami to watch one of her cooking programs" Kiyone said as she took a quick look through the news channels.

"I don't know, sometimes they find a program that we all enjoy" Tenchi replied "Hey, what's that?" he asked as one show came up.

"Let's see; CSI Tokyo. I think it's supposed to be a remake of an American show."

They went silent for a moment, before Kiyone decided to bring up the subject of Tenchi's decision.

"So you finally chose someone then? I'm a little relieved to tell you the truth"

"How come?"

"Well, the competition between Ayeka and Ryoko was starting to get a little out of hand"

"Oh, I see what you mean now"

"Its not just that. You saw the way Ayeka reacted about this. What if you picked someone else? Imagine what they could have done together"

"I don't know Kiyone, what makes you think that? To be honest, I'd expect them to fight each other again first before fighting someone else; they would blame each other for not being chosen then admit the truth."

Kiyone sighed, thinking about it for a moment.

"Well, I suppose you would be right in a few cases. But how about Sasami? We all know that it wont be long until she really starts to become one with Tsunami; and we all know how jealous they are of how Sasami will look. Add that to the fact that she does so much around the house already, she would have probably been perfect"

"I guess so; but we shouldn't leap straight to the idea that they would rip someone else apart"

"Right, if you say so. Just don't let Ryoko catch you with another girl, or else you will find out what I mean"

"Kiyone! What makes you think that I'd do something like that?"

Kiyone just smiled to herself.

"Don't worry, I know you wont. I'm just warning you; so you never see how nasty Ryoko can really be"

--------------------

"Oh, this feels wonderful" Tokimi said, smiling with her eyes closed, almost in ecstasy as she sat in the onsen.

"We know, you've said that five times already" Washu replied, trying to relax as she sat one side of the goddess, Mihoshi on the other side, smiling as much as Tokimi.

"It really is nice isn't it?" Mihoshi said, not really asking a question. "I wish I could spend all day just relaxing like this"

"You already have" Ryoko said, sitting there, feeling bored. "You fell asleep in here once, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that"

Ryoko sighed, she didn't want to be in here, she wanted to be with Tenchi right now, just relaxing with him would be all she needed to be happy right now. Unfortunately, she was stuck 'babysitting' the goddess Tokimi as Washu kept an eye on her. Turning away from them, she looked over at Sasami and smiled.

The little princess was in the onsen with Ryo-Ohki, the pair of them playing together. She was glad to see Ryo-Ohki so happy.

"Hmm, I wonder how Ayeka taking all of this. I haven't seen her since that fight" Ryoko said to herself, getting Tokimi's attention.

"Ayeka?" She asked, looking at Ryoko.

"Yeah, she's one of the princesses of Jurai"

"Interesting, you really do have a large mix of people here" Tokimi said. "Juraians, Galaxy police, an infamous space pirate"

"Ex space pirate" Ryoko butted in.

"The greatest genius in the universe" Tokimi continued "And then the two boys, one with the power of Jurai, and then the other one who exists in a place he doesn't belong"

Mihoshi looked at Tokimi, amazed by her knowledge.

"Wow, how do know all of this?" she asked.

"Well, I am a goddess, I've been watching you for a while now. Especially that Tenchi, his power intrigues me"

"Tenchi is something, that's for sure" Washu said.

"You got that right" Ryoko added, smiling happily. "Speaking of which, can I go now?" she asked, looking at Washu.

"Sure, nothings going to happen here anyway"

Ryoko grinned, phasing out of the water, leaving so she could dry off. Washu looked at Tokimi, before getting out herself.

"Come on, we should all head back inside, it's getting late and were going to have to find somewhere for you to sleep" she said, focusing on the goddess.

"Very well, we shall rest, and then I shall have a clear head after. Then I can have my discussion with you" Tokimi replied, getting up to follow Washu.

Washu still felt a little on-edge, not sure what to expect from Tokimi, but for tonight she wouldn't let it bother her, tomorrow, she would get to the bottom of this.

--------------------

Matt was on his own, by the lake outside the Masaki home, it had started to get dark earlier and he'd been laying there for a while, just staring into the orange sky while the sun was setting.

"I wonder how everyone's doing back home?" He thought to himself, thinking about all the people he'd left behind in his dimension. "Are they even looking for me, or trying to figure out what happened?"

Sighing, he closed his eyes, thinking about some of the fun times he had back then, like when he and Minagi had pulled an April fool's joke on their chief by sending him an exploding cake. He'd never laughed as hard as he did that day, seeing the chief covered in vanilla icing enough to make anyone in the galactic federation chuckle. He was fine, although it took a few hours for him to wash himself off, it was his office that suffered, he had to move into Minagi's office for a week while his was being cleaned up.

Matt smirked, chuckling a little as he remembered that moment.

"Ah, good times" he said to himself, opening his eye's to see a person looking down at him, the sun making it a little difficult to make out who it was right away.

"What are you smirking about?" Ayeka asked, bending down slightly to have a closer look at him.

"Oh nothing, just thinking about some things before I came here"

Ayeka stood back a little as Matt stood up, dusting himself off.

"Like what exactly, I'd like to learn a little more about you. Especially as so much hasn't been said"

"Alright" Matt nodded as they started to walk towards the house. "How about I tell you about the time that Minagi and I had to dress up as Geisha's so we could arrest a dangerous smuggler"

"You? Dressed up as a Geisha? I don't believe you" Ayeka replied.

"Oh its true, but I'll never do it again! unless I don't have to wear those funny shoes, man, do they hurt!"

Ayeka giggled as Matt told his story, glad to have something keeping her mind off her troubles.

--------------------

That night, Matt finally got to sleep in his own room, now that Tenchi had moved upstairs with Ryoko, he was glad that he could have some privacy. But has he slept, he didn't know that his privacy had already been taken away this night.

Tokimi stood beside him, watching over him as he slept. Placing a hand on his forehead she closed her eye's reaching into his mind.

"Come to the surface, you who are trapped within" she spoke out as her hand began to glow, a moment later, she moved her hand away and stood there silently, waiting.

It wasn't long before Matthew woke up and looked up at Tokimi, grinning.

"So, you felt me calling out to you" Matt said, his voice deeper then usual.

"Yes, I have a proposition for you, it may interest you"

"What could you offer me?" Matt said, sitting up to have a better look at her.

"For now, I have only gave you temporary control of this body. If you agree to help me, I shall give you full control until my mission is complete"

Matt stood up, standing face to face with the goddess.

"And after your mission, what will you do for me then?" he asked, looking at her carefully, looking for any sign of deceit.

"Your own body? Would that be something that would interest you?"

"Girl, you've got yourself a deal" Matt said, chuckling to himself happily.

--------------------

Authors corner - Well, that's another chapter over and were getting towards another big part in the story, and possibly the final part. I've got this whole section of the story worked out, and I've thinking about ending no need for hero's after its done. If I do end it there, I'll be leaving the story open for a possible sequel. But there will be a whole side-story that will have to be told. Time will tell on what I decide, but be happy to know that this story will still be going for a while now.

Anyway, a couple of pointers here. First of all CSI Tokyo, with 3 series out (That I know of) I've always wondered if they would go as far as making a separate series for each, but why stop there? So I thought I would make up CSI Tokyo just for this.

Next, the little Geisha bit, I just recently finished reading Memoirs of a Geisha and I loved the story. I just felt like I had to put in something like that for a quick laugh.

Anyway, next chapter! A glimpse of a plan and a possible threat to the peace.


	16. Putting a plan into motion

Morning was uneasily peaceful, there was no fighting between Ryoko and Ayeka, Kiyone wasn't really paying attention to the small mess that Mihoshi had made when she spilt her drink. Washu remained quiet too, but she kept a watchful eye on Tokimi, who was already on her second helping.

"It's odd, the day before, you were all full of life" Tokimi started, looking at everyone. "But now you are all so quiet, I wonder if something is bothering you"  
"It's not that" Tenchi replied, looking over at the goddess. "We had a lot of things happen over the last few weeks, we just need some time to think about everything"  
"I see, contemplation to ease your minds. There is still much I don't know of people themselves"  
"Well, perhaps that's because we talk to others, rather then seclude ourselves from any sort of interaction at all" Washu butted in, putting down her bowl and standing up, ready to leave.  
"You were once just the same Washu, until you wanted to experience human life for yourself" Tokimi replied, looking at Washu seriously.

The pair stared at each other for a moment, while the others watched, no-one really knowing what they were talking about.  
"Not that I believe you, but you did the same thing just to come here and see me" Washu said sharply, not wanting to talk with the goddess any more then she had to.  
"That is where we are different, you gave up everything Washu dear, while I have only taken this body for a while to speak with you directly. I still have all my power as a goddess"  
"Power? You haven't shown us a damn thing that backs up what your saying! Now unless your prepared to actually talk about what you came here to do, I have some research to do!" Washu shouted, loosing her temper before leaving the kitchen and going into her lab, the door slamming shut behind her.

There was silence for a moment as everyone looked at Tokimi, waiting for her to say something. she remained silent too, looking down at her breakfast.  
"I've had enough, thank you for the meal" she finally said, quietly. She stood up and excused herself before heading outside, leaving the others looking at each other.  
"We need to keep on eye on that woman" Ayeka said "Washu rarely looses her temper like that. Someone who can anger her could be trouble"  
"Your right, I doing like it either" Kiyone replied.

Tenchi and Ryoko looked at each other, nodding in agreement about this.  
"Washu said from the start that she didn't like her. We were watching her too, but so far nothing's happened" Tenchi said to the others. "Now were going to watch ourselves, be careful if your around her, ok?"

The others nodded and looked on, not sure what to do now. Matt was the first to move, getting up and excusing himself.  
"I think that I'll check on Washu, make sure that she's ok" he said, making his way to the lab.

--------------------

"My lady, what is the matter? You seem troubled" D3 said as he appeared before Tokimi, small enough for only her to see him at this moment.  
"It has been harder to gain their trust then I thought, they are all suspicious of me due to their loyalty to Washu" Tokimi replied.  
"What should we do?"  
"My patience has been worn thin, now is the time to act. I shall take her while she is alone"  
"What about the others? We may have to deal with them if Washu calls out for them"  
"That will be taken care of, do not worry"  
"And Tsunami?"  
"No worry, she has not shown any signs of trying to do anything while I have been here. Strange really, when I saw her come for Washu when I contacted her, she seemed very protective. I suppose that she only watches over them, but tries not to interfere"

Tokimi grinned, looking back towards the house.  
"I shall speak with you again soon. Have my ship ready to go"  
"Yes my lady" D3 replied, fading away as Tokimi thought about how to do this.

--------------------

"Washu?" Matt called out from the labs entrance, looking around for any signs of where she might have gone. "Man, I never thought that I'd come in here of my own free will" he muttered, stepping forward to get a better look of the area around him.  
"Leave me alone, I'm busy" Washu called back, her voice echoing around the lab. Matt stood there trying to figure out where it was coming from.  
"Washu, we know there's a problem, you cant just lock yourself up in here and wait for it to pass over"  
"That's not what I'm doing"

Matt started walking around, passing by some large glass domes, each with creatures that he had never seen before. Along with an empty space that looked like something had broken out from it.  
"So what exactly are you doing Washu?" Matt asked, stopping to look at what appeared to be a teaching room.  
"I am going to devise a plan to get rid of her. And maybe destroy her in the process!" Washu shouted out again.  
"Washu, I don't like this."  
"Well I'll try and make sure it's over quickly. So don't worry about that"  
"Not that"  
"What?"

One of Washu's camera's floated around, out of Matthew's view, letting Washu see where he was and what he was doing. She watched as he rubbed one of his arms nervously.  
"I'd just rather speak to you face to face, that's all. This is making me feel like I'm in a coma again, only you sound nicer" Matt said, staying put for now, so that he didn't get too lost.  
"Nicer then what?" Washu asked. Stopping what she was doing to put her full attention on the screen Matt was on.  
"That's not important. What's important is dealing with this. But there has to be a better way then locking yourself up in your lab and trying to create something that can kill a god!"  
"Nothing is impossible! I'm the greatest scientific mind in the universe! This shouldn't be a problem for me!"  
"Then how about giving me a way home?" Matt shouted out, loosing his patience. "Why not do that if your so great?"  
"Some things are more delicate then this! One little mistake and who knows where you would wind up?"  
"Oh, and it doesn't matter if you make one little mistake with this and destroy the entire universe?"

Everything went silent for a moment, neither saying anything. Matt felt like he wet too far and that he should leave now, but it was as he began to make his way back that Washu decided to show herself.  
"Do you want to go home that badly?" She asked, walking out from one of the dark corridors and into the same area that Matt was in.  
"I just feel like I'm getting involved in something that isn't really my problem. And you haven't done anything to help me" Matt spoke out softly. "I wouldn't mind staying here for a little while if the situation was different, but I don't belong here"  
"What if you had gone back already? If I just found a way to send you back home straight away, you wouldn't know about what those gems were doing to you and you could have died"  
"I suppose that's true. But since then, before that space pirate trouble?"  
"Maybe it was the fact that you could use those gems, it was just too interesting to pass up. I guess my interests got the best of me. But you know that we all have to deal with this first, don't you?"

Matt sighed, looking at the ground as he thought this over.  
"I do want to go home, I really do" he said, which seemed to sadden Washu a little. "But seeing how I'm in this mess, I guess I could help"  
"Thank you" Washu said, smiling as she walked up to him, giving him a little hug. Matt blushed lightly at this, but started to smile as well, wrapping his arms around the little genius. "Okay, that's enough hugging now" Washu said, her voice a little muffled.  
"I'd enjoy it while you can dear sister. You wont be seeing any of your 'friends' where we are going"

Washu and Matt let go of each other and turned to face Tokimi, who was standing before them, a blank expression on her face.  
"How did you get in here?" Washu asked placing a hand behind her back.  
"I can do what I want. Entering your little realm is a small feat for a goddess"  
"Goddess my ass! Let's see just what your made of!" Washu shouted, pulling a bomb out from behind her back. "Go! Black hole bomb!"

Washu threw the bomb before running for cover, motioning for Matt to do the same as the bomb landed at Tokimi's feet and exploded. In moments, the smoke from the bomb was sucked into a small black hole that had been created, which started to suck everything in.  
"What the hell is that?" Matt shouted out, clinging onto a metal column for his life as a piece of machinery flew past him and was sucked up in the hole.  
"It's a miniature black hole! It should be more then enough to get rid of her. Especially when she was at the centre of it all!" Washu shouted back  
"Really Washu, you have to try harder then that" Tokimi said, walking through the black hole so she could see the others again. "You really shouldn't question my power" she spoke out, placing a hand over the black hole, causing it to disintegrate into dust.  
"Oh crap" Washu said bluntly.

Matt knew he didn't stand a chance, but he had to try something. He ran at Tokimi without any thought, swinging a fist at her. Tokimi just looked at him, stopping the boy in his tracks before making her way over to Washu.  
"Come now Washu, would you rather go peacefully? Or should I hurt your friends one by one until you have enough?" she said, her face still blank.  
"You wont do anything to them?" Washu asked  
"Only if we go now"

Washu stared at Tokimi, thinking about what to do. She looked over at Matt who was still frozen in place and looked back at the goddess.

--------------------

As the others inside the house tried to plan out how they would go about dealing with Tokimi an explosion caused the door to Washu's lab to soar into the living room and slam into the T.V.  
Ryoko phased over to the door as the others got up to follow.  
"Miss Washu!" Ayeka shouted out as the smoke began to clear, hoping the little scientist was alright. It was only when Washu called out that they saw her being carried along by Tokimi.  
"Mom!" Ryoko shouted out, drawing her energy beam ready to fight. She flew outside the house, going around Tokimi to block the path she was walking.

Tokimi simply looked on, her face showing no signs of anger.  
"Move child, my business only concerns this one" she said, standing her ground.  
"Ryoko, she's too powerful! Don't try anything!" Washu called out, trying to free herself from Tokimi's grip, if only to stop Ryoko.  
"No! Whatever she's planning, she's not taking anybody!" Ryoko shouted, holding her blade ready.  
"Foolish child, try if you might, you shall not hit me" Tokimi said calmly, taking a step forward.

Ryoko was quick to rush at Tokimi, but before she could reach the goddess, her blade connected with another. No one had even seen anyone else there until Ryoko's blade clashed with his.  
"Matthew? What the hell are you doing?" She shouted, pushing forward with her blade.  
"You wont get in the way of what she has planned. I will see to that" Matt said, his voice darker then usual, a gruffness coming from it. "Lady Tokimi, I will deal with them, you should go on and do what you have planned. Then you can give me what you promised"  
"What she promised him?" Washu thought to herself, trying to stay calm. She didn't want to put the others in danger, but Ryoko wasn't making it easy.

Matthew pushed forward, forcing Ryoko to step back.  
"This isn't right, he's only mimicking my abilities, he shouldn't be able to do that" she thought as Tokimi looked at the others.  
"Oh, there was one more thing I needed" she said, raising a hand which held one of Matthews gemmed gloves. Tenchi could feel himself being drawn closer until the key-blade in his pocket flew out, floating in front of the goddess. "Yes. these will do nicely"  
"What are you? Give that back!" Tenchi called out, dashing at her to grab his sword. Just before he could reach it, he saw the two gems disappear from the hilt, appearing in Tokimi's hand. A moment later, the blade and Tenchi were flung back.

"My lady, it is time to go" D3 called out, his voice echoing out as Tokimi's ship appeared over the lake.  
"Very well, I have all I need" Tokimi replied, turning to face Matthew. "You will get what is yours in due time. Keep them busy for now"  
"Not a problem" Matt said, grinning. Readying his blade again as he faced Ryoko. Tokimi disappearing from view.

"I thought we could trust you" Ryoko said, gritting her teeth angrily. "But all this time you were just part of some plan?"  
"I guess I had a change of mind" Matthew said, chuckling a little at his personal joke. He then rushed at Ryoko, their blades clashing again. "I don't want to kill you. But if Tokimi goes through with her plan, I get a new body, one that isn't so weak"  
"Idiot! You really think she'll give you something like that?" Ryoko shouted, kicking Matthew away before phasing behind him and kicking him to the floor.

"Tenchi? Should we help?" Ayeka asked, watching as Ryoko grabbed Matt's collar to pick him up, so she could toss him back down to the floor.  
"No. It's ok, she isn't going to kill him" Tenchi replied, looking at his blade, where the gems had been before. "I know she cant kill someone that she's had as a friend"

--------------------

"Does he really you'll give him what he wants?" Washu asked Tokimi, who was staring out into space as her ship started on its journey back to Tokimi's home.  
"Humans are so easy to deceive. You offer them power and they will gladly follow you" Tokimi replied, almost smiling. "But a part of him was especially eager to help me"  
"I don't believe that" Washu said, standing behind Tokimi, looking at how bland the ships interior was.  
"There is more to that boy then you know. Things that you cannot see"

Washu ignored her statement, looking past the goddess as earth slowly went out of view.  
"A lot like that Tenchi who you seem so interested in" Tokimi continued, getting Washu's attention. "The mystery of the light hawk wings has always eluded you. But in a moment I have shown you a glimpse of its secrets"  
"That's enough" Washu said, focusing on the goddess again. "I've agreed to come along with you, so I don't want you talking about Tenchi and the others"  
"Concerned about them? Just another feeling that you don't need"  
"You might think that, but what about what you experienced while you were with us? Those moments of bliss when you first ate? The feeling of calm in the onsen?"  
"While the experience was indeed a good insight into human emotion, and allowed me to see how useless they are. They get in the way of your thoughts, clouding your judgement and lowering your defences"  
"That's a load of crap and you know it!" Washu shouted, moving towards Tokimi. "You enjoyed that feeling you had, I know you did!"

Tokimi looked at Washu for a moment, before looking back out the window.  
"Soon you will see. You will learn what is really important" She said, a small grin appearing upon her face.  
"That's enough!" Washu shouted, throwing a punch at Tokimi, only to have a wave of energy knock her down to the floor.  
"It is too late to fight, your fate has already been decided and nothing shall stop us now"

--------------------

"Ryoko, I think he's had enough" Tenchi said, taking hold of Ryoko shoulder as she prepared to hit Matthew again. She had pinned him down and had been hitting him repeatedly as she shouted at him for what he had done. She looked up at Tenchi, reluctantly getting up, only to kick Matt in the ribs for good measure.

Matt coughed, laughing as he tried to get his breath.  
"Even with full control over this body, he's still weak. He doesn't have the potential to become powerful" He said, slowly sitting up. "It's a shame that the gems came to him, then maybe he wouldn't have to put up with me all the time, haunting his thoughts while I'm forced to watch on, being taunted by life that I couldn't have. But that will change"

Ryoko looked at Tenchi, and then the other members of the household, none of them really knew what to make of what Matthew was saying.  
"Must have hit him too hard" Ryoko said "He's lost it"  
"Something's different about him" Sasami replied "Like he's a completely different person"

Matthew smirked, standing up as he drew his blade again.  
"So, someone understands me. Too bad I've changed my mind about you." He said, grinning darkly "I would have just kept you busy for a while, but it seems Ryoko didn't want to play. So I suppose I should take someone down before this is over!" he shouted out, as he began to run at Sasami, ready to swing his blade.

The others tried to move, but Matt was already close enough to strike, he loomed over Sasami, ready to strike, but before he could he felt something around him, stopping him from moving, everything around him turning completely white.  
"What the hell is this?" he shouted, looking back at Sasami, only to see Tsunami standing before him.  
"I will not let you toy with this child any longer" she spoke, another Matthew appearing beside her, a gentler looking version of him. "His life is his own to lead, yours is not something that should exist"  
"No, I control this body now! I shall use this until I have my own body, no matter how weak it is!"  
"There is nothing waiting for you. Tokimi will not give you what you want, you are just another puppet to her"  
"I think it's time you left now" the second Matthew said, stepping in front of his darker self.  
"I hope that your spirit will find ease, wherever you go" Tsunami said, fading from view.  
"If you see Tokimi, tell her I'm coming for Washu" Matthew said, placing his hand on the others shoulder, making him disappear. "Time to make amends"

As if it had never happened, everyone was still rushing at Matt as he stopped dead, the blade disappearing. He looked down at Sasami, dropping to his knee's in front of her as she looked on, still scared.  
"Sasami" he said, his voice feeling light again, as he felt himself about to come to tears, the others around them stopping. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry"

--------------------

Authors notes - A rather abrupt end to the chapter, but I'm calling the end here before it really drags on.

Sorry for taking a while with this update, but there have been a few things. Oblivion being released, training taking its toll on me, and a state of depression slowly growing on me because of still being single.

Anyway, I will try to work faster on the next chapter, especially as we are getting to an important part of the story. And thank you for the reviews you've been sending.

Next chapter - The mission to save Washu, Tokimi's plans and Matthew tries to cope with what has happened.


	17. A new Goddess

"Come on Mihoshi, cant this thing go any faster? She's going to get away if we don't speed up!" Ryoko shouted at the detective, having to be held back by Ayeka and Tenchi so she wouldn't hit Mihoshi by accident.

"I'm sorry Ryoko! I'm trying to put as much extra energy as possible into the engines. Ah, here we go!" she said happily as the lights went out and the emergency light system came up. "I've transferred the basic electrics system into the engine, the back-up system runs off its own generator, so we should be fine!"

"Good, that's a start, now we've got to track them down while we still can"

"Already on it, the signals feint but I can follow it"

Ayeka let go of Ryoko now that she was calming down, watching Mihoshi.

"She seems rather on the ball right now" she commented, as Mihoshi continued to type away at her control board.

"Yeah, I guess helping a friend means a lot to her" Tenchi replied.

"Speaking of friends" Ryoko said, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Where's Matthew right now? Kiyone better be keeping an eye on him"

"I'm sure everything's alright down there Ryoko" Tenchi said "Let's just focus on stopping Tokimi so we can save Washu"

Ryoko was silent for a moment, before heading over to the door.

"I have to ask him why. He may not be able to answer me, but I have to try" she said, walking out of the room. Tenchi went to follow her, but Ayeka grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Let her go lord Tenchi, she needs to deal with this in her own way" she said calmly. Tenchi nodded, stepping back over to Mihoshi as she tried to track down Tokimi's ship.

It hadn't even been an hour after what had happened back on earth, Ryoko was ready to chase after Tokimi on her own, happy to take off on her own and leave Matthew till later. But Tenchi managed to convince her to let them come along.

"Perhaps I should be a little tougher around Tenchi, I can't just go weak at the knees and do everything he wants" she thought as she strolled through Yagami's corridors toward where they had left Matt. "I don't see why we had to bring him along though, could have just left him on earth for all I care" she thought again. Remembering that a few of the others didn't want to leave him on his own, especially Sasami.

She carried on down the corridor, stopping as she heard a voice. Stepping over to the door the voice was coming from, she decided to listen in.

--------------------

"Matt?" Kiyone said, kneeling in front of the boy as he sat, slumped against one of the walls in the small room. "What happened back there?" she asked, trying to get Matthew to say something. He'd been silent ever since he collapsed in front of Sasami, when they brought him into the ship; he had made his way to the closest room and hadn't moved since.

She looked at him a little longer, before sitting down on one of the chairs in the room.

"Are you just going to sit there and say nothing?" she asked, a little sarcastically.

"Sorry" Matt muttered, bringing his knees up to his chest and resting his head on them, still looking at the ground.

"I guess that's a start" Kiyone said, sighing a little.

"I can still feel him, inside my mind, still lurking" Matt said, his eyes looking a little foggy, as if he wasn't all there.

"Who?"

"I don't know who, or what. I just know that he was the reason I tried to help Tokimi"

"You said you would get a new body?"

"Uh huh, he said that this body wasn't strong enough to unleash the true power of the gems. I'm just weak"

"Your not weak, look at what you did when we fought Kagato"

"That's when it started... That's when he appeared..."

Kiyone waited a moment as Matt started to mutter to himself, calling himself weak and worthless, before she decided to get up and head to the door.

"Your not weak Matthew, we all have something that makes us strong, you just need to find what it is that makes you strong"

She opened up the door, closing it after she walked through, only to be stopped by Ryoko.

"How is he?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the door that Kiyone had just closed.

"Hard to tell, looks like he's breaking down. Everything that's happened may be too much for him" Kiyone replied. "Probably best to leave him alone"

"Yeah, if I were you, I'd lock that room up"

"Ryoko! He wasn't himself! It was Tokimi controlling him!" Kiyone shouted out.

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean he isn't under her control anymore. Right now he's still a potential danger, even in that state"

"If that's what you want, you can do it yourself. I believe he's not under her control anymore, so does Sasami!"

"Oh please!" Ryoko shouted, looking at Kiyone directly now. "You're only saying that because of how much you like him"

Kiyone paused, taking in what Ryoko said before she decided to reply.

"Maybe your right, but what if that was Tenchi? What would you do Ryoko?" she said, trying to keep a brave face as she stared at Ryoko, who was a little surprised at what Kiyone said, but she couldn't deny what she would do.

"I'd believe it wasn't his fault" she replied "And I'd do what I can to protect him"

The two women looked at eachother for a moment, before Ryoko turned back towards the cockpit.

"Just keep an eye on him Kiyone. I'll give him a chance on this" The space pirate called out as she walked away.

"Thanks Ryoko"

--------------------

Sasami was down in the recreation room with Ryo-Ohki, trying to keep her mind off things, especially what had happened earlier. Once again, she was glad to have Tsunami there for her, but had her last intervention been too much? Matt now seemed lost in himself and Sasami couldn't help but feel responsible.

Ryo-Ohki pawed at Sasami's leg, getting her attention.

"Oh, sorry Ryo-Ohki, I must have been lost in my thoughts then" she said, smiling as she picked the little cabbit up. "I wonder what were going to do when we catch up with Tokimi?"

"Mreow?" Ryo-Ohki called out softly, not sure what was going to happen.

"I just hope everyone will be alright. We are facing a goddess after all"

--------------------

"So, what's this big plan then?" Washu asked as she stared out into space. Hoping to ease her mind by talking with Tokimi.

"A fresh start" Tokimi replied, who was also staring out into space. "There have been so many imperfections with this universe, so many things that could be made better"

"I see, so you would rather destroy everything, then let it make its own way?"

"You are wrong sister, there are so many out there who could be so much better but none of then have ever taken a step forward and reached their peak"

"We have a solution for that, its called evolution. Not that you would know what that means, you've probably never changed since you were first born into existence"

"Your human side still blinds you from the truth. I think now is the right time to return you to your former self"

Washu turned to Tokimi, who was holding three gems in the palm of her hand, which included one of Matt's gloves.

"These, dear sister, are the key to your past, to all the knowledge you will ever need. Perhaps after you have seen what I see, you will be ready to accept your place as a goddess. You have already seen many things from a single gem, but that is just another glimpse of everything that you are yet to see"

"If I go through with this, at least promise me one thing" Washu said keeping her eyes fixed on Tokimi.

"I suppose I can give you one thing before we were to begin the recreation"

"Let Matthew go home, he doesn't belong in this universe. He shouldn't have to endure a fate that he doesn't share with everyone else in this universe"

"Very well sister" Tokimi agreed. "But only after you become a goddess again. I wouldn't want you to turn on me after getting what you want"

"Agreed, not that you wouldn't do the same to me to get what you want"

Washu took Matt's glove, slipping it on her hand, feeling the gems energy as it began to flow through her. As she took the other two gems, the three of them started to glow gently, as if ready to be reunited with their master. Washu held them next to the gem in Matt's glove and they began to draw themselves into her arm. It felt painful for just a moment, until the gems settled.

"I don't feel any different" Washu said, looking at Tokimi

"In time dear sister, it will all be clear very soon" the goddess replied, an almost sinister grin appearing on her, usually expressionless, face.

"What have you done?" Washu shouted, feeling a twinge in her arm.

"I've brought you back to normal, sister"

"Y-you, you'll pay for this" Washu said, trying to move towards Tokimi before the energy being pumped into her through the gems caused her to collapse.

--------------------

"Um, guys!" Mihoshi called out as her monitor began to beep. "I think we've caught up with them!"

Tenchi and Ayeka rushed over to Mihoshi, Ryoko floating above them to look as well.

"Bringing it up on screen" Kiyone said as she moved past Ayeka to get in her seat, tapping a few buttons to bring the image of Tokimis ship up on screen.

"Nice work Mihoshi" Ryoko said, turning around to make her way out of the cockpit.

"And where are you going?" Ayeka asked, looking at Ryoko

"To get Ryo-Ohki, I'm going out there to get Tokimi!"

"But you couldn't even lay a finger on her when she took Washu!"

"That's because Matthew got in the way!" Ryoko shouted "But now that he's down in the private quarters, just murmuring to himself. I doubt he'll be getting in the way"

"Easy Ryoko" Tenchi said, getting between the girls in hopes of trying to calm them down. "Are you sure you want to do this Ryoko?"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I'll just storm in, grab Washu and be back out before Tokimi can cause me a problem"

Tenchi nodded, grabbing the hilt of his blade from his pocket.

"Then I'm going with you" he said, smiling at her.

"I guess I should go to" Ayeka joined in. "We all know you'll probably be too busy to protect lord Tenchi, so someone should watch over him"

Ryoko smirked, before looking at Mihoshi and Kiyone.

"You two should stay here ready for us to make a quick getaway. Plus we may need some cover fire on the way in"

"Got it!" Mihoshi said, smiling as she armed their weapons systems.

"Anything else?" Kiyone asked? Looking at Ryoko, almost sternly.

"Just keep an eye on Matt and Sasami, make sure they don't get hurt, alright?"

"Not a problem"

"Alright then, let's go!"

--------------------

"MREOW!" Ryo-Ohki called out as she soared through space towards Tokimi's ship.

"Alright Ryo-Ohki, get ready to ram that ship!" Ryoko called out, grinning as they got closer to the goddess.

"Ram it?" Tenchi shouted "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Don't worry, we break into the side of the ship so we have quick access"

"Look out!" Ayeka shouted, getting the other attention as lasers began to soar at them.

"Well, at least she making this more interesting" Ryoko said before calling out to Ryo-Ohki "Just keep going, I don't want to loose any speed!"

Ryo-Ohki swiftly dodged the lasers, keeping in line with the rear-end of Tokimi's ship. As she flew closer, more lasers started to fire at her. Some of them starting to break through Ryo-Ohki's shield.

"This may be tougher then I thought, you guys better hold onto something because things may get a little rough" Ryoko said as Ryo-Ohki shook from the force of one of the lasers.

"Don't worry, we've got you!" Kiyone called out over the intercom, Yagame flying by and taking out some of the lasers before flying out of range. "Were coming back round in a second, but I don't know how many more weapons are on that thing, it doesn't give any readings!"

"Just keep as many of those lasers of us as possible, I just need a few moments"

"You got it" Kiyone replied, closing the comm signal before Yagame went by again, taking out some more lasers. But this time taking a few hits itself.

In just a moment, the lasers stopped, leaving an eerie silence as Ryo-Ohki stopped.

"I don't like this, she's up to something" Ayeka commented, her battle armour appearing around her. Tenchi's appeared as well, as he grabbed his blade in anticipation.

"Your right, there's no way she's run out of power just like that. Ryo-Ohki, lets go in, but be careful" Ryoko said, watching for any signs of movement.

"There's no need to go any closer. Not when I'm right here"

--------------------

"Ryoko? Can you hear me? Ryoko?" Kiyone called out through the intercom. Ryo-Ohki wasn't moving and no-one was answering her.

"Kiyone, what do you thinks going on?" Mihoshi asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"I don't know. I'm not picking any changes up, but that's what worries me, why else would they just stop like that?"

"There's nothing coming from the other ship either. I'm scared Kiyone"

"Don't worry, we'll be ok. I hope"

Matthew was still in the small room from before, still slumped up against the wall. He was staring at the floor. Waiting for another barrage of lasers after the last attack they made on Tokimi's ship.

But at the moment, things had become quiet and all he could hear was the dull roaring of the ships engines.

"None of this would have happened if I wasn't here. Now I probably cant do anything to stop it" he said to himself, looking at the glove sticking out of his pocket that still had the gem. He stared at it for a while, before standing up, putting the glove on. "Not without killing myself..."

He opened up the door hatch, making his way towards the bridge, before a figure stopped him from going any further.

"Matt, you don't have to do this" Sasami said, looking at him sympathetically. "Washu wouldn't want you to go this far"

"Sasami, I have to do this, for everything that happened. It's not just for Washu"

"I don't think there's anything we can do. She's a goddess, and I don't think that even the light hawk wings could deal with that"

Matthew looked at her, remembering what he almost did to the princess.

"I'm sorry Sasami, but there has to be something I can do to help" Matt said, starting to look at the floor.

"You can help, but not if you just rush into things"

"Well what can I do?"

"I don't know, we'll figure something out, I'm sure of it"

As they looked at each other, the ship suddenly shook with a powerful force, causing both of them to fall over.

"What's going on?" Sasami asked, as the intercom came to life.

"You guys better hold on, something's happening inside Ryo-Ohki and the energy if starting to push us away" Kiyone called out.

"Kiyone, what do you mean?" Matt replied

"I don't know, but it just showed up all of a sudden"

"Tokimi" Sasami said quietly, looking out one of the windows at Ryo-Ohki.

--------------------

"Tokimi" Ryoko said, turning around to look at the goddess, her beam sword appearing in her hand. "You're going to regret coming onto my ship"

"You still think you can save her?" Tokimi asked, staring at Ryoko and the others blankly.

"I'll make sure that nothing happens to her, and to start off, I'll take care of you!" Ryoko shouted, flying full speed at Tokimi, ready to strike her down.

But it was when she was just a moment away that she was stopped again, just like back on earth when Matthew got in her way. Only this time, the figure in front of her was powerful to send Ryoko across the large room within Ryo-Ohki without having to raise an arm.

"What's going on?" Ayeka asked, looking at Tokimi and the figure that had blocked Ryokos path.

"I don't know, but this persons strong, we should be careful" Tenchi replied, igniting his blade as he took a defensive stance. The figure, who was covered in red robes which seemed to ignore the ships gravity that seemed to around them keeping them hidden turned towards Tokimi who started to smile.

"How can you save her, when she has already been saved?" Tokimi asked, the red robes around her friend starting to fall down to the ground, finally catching up with gravity.

Ryoko watched on, a look of shock across her face as the person's identity was revealed.

"No, it can't be" She said, starting to recognise the figure

"I'm sorry... Little Ryoko"

--------------------

Author's corner - God damn that took a long time to get this chapter up... I've been having such a tough time with this lately, and the pressure being put on by my training course doesn't help either...

I'm hoping to get the next chapter up soon, which may be another short one by the looks of things, but hopefully I'll start getting back on track.

Once again, thanks for your reviews, I'll reply to the ones I can reply to.

Next chapter, we begin the final steps of Tokimi's plan and see what happens to Tenchi and the Gang after this turn of events. Stay tuned folks.


	18. The calm before the Storm

"Miss Washu?" Ayeka said, watching on as Tokimi and Washu stood before Ryoko while she and Tenchi stood on the side-lines.  
"I suppose little Washu is out of the question now, isn't it" Washu said, smiling gently as she waited for someone to speak up.

Tokimi looked out, away from the others as Yagame drifted into view outside of Ryo-Ohki.  
"Washu, I must deal with our little sister. Try not to over exert yourself" she said, her attention focused on the other ship.  
"Fine, I only wanted to say hello anyway"

Tokimi disappeared, leaving the other goddess with her old friends.  
"No, I wont believe it" Ryoko said, creating the energy bean in her hand again as she stood up. "It's a trick! It has to be! Your just a fake!" she shouted, raising off the ground and flying at Washu, trying to swing her blade at the woman. Washu was too quick for Ryoko to hit, disappearing as Ryoko swung her blade, and reappearing beside her, knocking her to the ground with a swift elbow to Ryoko's back.

"Ryoko!" Tenchi called out igniting the master key and running towards her.  
"Easy there Tenchi, she's not the only one you have to protect right now" Washu said, her own blade beam in hand, aimed at Ayeka's throat.  
"What are you doing this? Why are you helping her?" Ayeka asked nervously, a hint of panic in her voice.  
"Well I think it's partly these" Washu replied, the three gems appearing above her free hand as she raised it "But the amount of knowledge is simply amazing, I understand so much now, even how you can create the light hawk wings" she continued, looking at Tenchi.

The symbol of Tenchi's light hawk wings appeared on his forehead as Washu smiled at him.  
"I only wish I could have figured out how you create them by myself" She spoke out holding a hand out to him. "But now, I could probably do whatever I want, even create the wings for myself, or take them from you"  
"Leave lord Tenchi alone!" Ayeka said, before the blade was brought closer to her neck.  
"Your not in the position to give orders princess, right now I'm the one in control of this situation"  
"Not if I can help it!" Ryoko shouted flying towards the others as she created a ball of energy, shooting it towards Washu.

--------------------

"Any signal from Ryo-Ohki?" Kiyone asked, watching the ship drift next to Yagame and Tokimi's ship.  
"No, there's nothing at all, It's like she cant even hear us" Mihoshi replied nervously, frantically pushing buttons in hope of getting the communications back up. "I hope everyone's ok"  
"Don't worry, they can handle themselves. Now give me hand with the engines, whatever's going on has stopped Yagame from moving"

What Kiyone said was true. Ever since Tokimi's ship had stood still in front of them, Yagame and Ryo-Ohki had froze as well. Leaving all of them drifting through space. Unfortunately, Kiyone and the others on their ship had no idea what was unfolding inside Ryo-Ohki.

--------------------

"Sasami?" Matt asked, looking out one of the windows at Ryo-Ohki. "What's going on out there?"  
"I think Tokimi wants to make sure we wont be able to get in the way" Sasami replied, stood next to Matt, watching Ryo-Ohki as well.  
"Get in the way?"  
"She wants Washu for something. I'm not sure what, but she cant do it alone"

Matt stepped away from the window, looking down at Sasami as he thought about what she said.  
"Well what about you? Why didn't she trying taking you?" He asked rubbing the back of his head.  
"I don't think Tsunami was ready to help her. She doesn't think that Tokimi is right in what she's doing"  
"What is she doing?"

Sasami went silent, looking back at Ryo-Ohki for a moment.  
"Sasami?"  
"I don't know, Tsunami wont tell me" Sasami replied at last looking back at Matthew. "She's too busy protecting us right now"

--------------------

"Mihoshi, how are the engines?" Kiyone asked as they both tried all of Yagame's systems online.  
"It's no good Kiyone! I cant get anything to work!" Mihoshi said, on the verge of tears.  
"Its pointless, unless I say so, you will not be able to move this vessel"

Kiyone and Mihoshi turned around in shock as they heard the familiar voice, to find Tokimi standing before them, looking at them sternly.  
"You" Kiyone said, getting up out of her seat.  
"Do not try to fight me" Tokimi said, using her power to stop Kiyone from moving any closer. "It would be pointless to try. You do not stand a chance of winning"  
"Kiyone!" Mihoshi cried out, unable to bring herself to move.  
"It's ok Mihoshi" Kiyone replied, trying to look as tough as she could as she stood before the goddess. "She isn't hurting me. So why are you here?"

Tokimi released her grip on Kiyone, allowing her to sit back down. Kiyone gripped the handles of her seat angrily, just waiting for a chance to strike the woman.  
"I'm offering you a chance to live a little longer. Leave now and forget about Washu and I will let you live as long as everyone else" Tokimi said, her voice sounding a little distant, the thoughts of her plans occupying her mind.

Kiyone smiled, looking at Mihoshi before looking back at the goddess and replying.  
"Your worried that we might stop you, right? Is that why your giving us this choice?"  
"While Tsunami may be able to slow me down, there is no way to stop me now that I have Washu. Besides, wouldn't you rather be with the ones you really care about, doing what you love before you all die?"  
"We wont give up on Washu so easily and we aren't going to back down just because you want us to, right Mihoshi?" Kiyone said, still smiling as her partner looked over to her.  
"That's right, she's our friend, and plus she fixes Yagame for free whenever he's been damaged!" Mihoshi added, smiling as well.

The calm look on Tokimi's face turned into a scowl as her suggestion was refused. She looked at the two officers before speaking again.  
"If you will not leave of your own accord, then I suppose that I'll have to deal with you myself" she said angrily, a ball of energy forming in her hands. "My plans will not be stopped and you will not be there to slow me do-"

The goddess was interrupted as she felt a pain in her chest, the energy ball dissipating as she looked down see an energy beam sticking out of her.  
"You should remember who else is on this ship" Matthew said from behind the goddess, his expression hidden from everyone.  
"You! You would turn on me? After what I promised you?"  
"That side of me isn't here anymore, I have someone else watching over me now"

Tokimi looked behind her to see two figures behind Matthew, one was faded, their image covered by the other figure, that of Tsunami.  
"I will make sure you pay for this" Tokimi said, part of her angry tone filled with pain. "You will not fair so well against the real me as you have this shell"  
"Well we'll just have to wait and see, wont we?" Kiyone replied, picking up her pistol.  
"Say hi to Washu for me" Matt added, pulling his energy beam out of the goddess, just before the body itself vaporised, leaving nothing but a trace of energy.

"Matt?" Kiyone said, reaching over to Matthew, who just smiled at her.  
"Come on, we've got to…got to get this ship moving" he replied, falling to his knees.  
"Are you ok?" Mihoshi asked, getting out of her seat as she and Kiyone went to Matt's side.  
"Y-yeah, I'm fine, that just took a lot out of me, that's all. Are the others ok?"  
"I don't know, I'll try and find out!"

--------------------

"So reckless, I'm sure you'd blow up this ship sooner then me" Washu said, her blade beam held out to where the ball of energy had been aimed, with a simple flick of the blade, the had sent the energy into the ground, forcing a small cry out from Ryo-Ohki which echoed around everyone inside her. "I should really teach you to hold back" Washu said, looking at where Ryoko had been just a moment ago.  
"Don't doubt me" Ryoko said, appearing next to Tenchi, holding onto Ayeka as she placed the princess on the ground.  
Washu smirked, letting her blade disappear.

"Not bad, but I suppose I should have expected that from my daughter. I wonder how long you can fight me while protecting them"  
"I wont hold back!" Ryoko said, charging up another energy ball.  
"Oh but you will. You know its me, so you wont strike me like you would anyone else. And you wont use your full power in case you take everyone else out in the process." Washu replied, smiling as she started to create a pair of her own energy balls. "What are going to do little Ryoko?"

Washu smiled, before she felt something, forcing her to look out at Tokimi's ship.  
"Hmm, I guess that's my cue to leave. It's a shame really, I wanted to see how much you were willing to do Ryoko" Washu said, before disappearing from view. A few moments later, Tokimi's ship started to move again and continued its journey.

"Ryoko?" Tenchi said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder as she made the ball of energy dissipate. "Are you ok?" he asked as she turned around, latching onto him in a quiet hug.  
"Why is she doing this Tenchi?" Ryoko said quietly as she buried her face into his chest.  
"I don't know, maybe Tokimi's done something to her" Tenchi replied.  
"Ryoko" Ayeka said, making Ryoko turn her head to look at the princess. "Thank you"  
"We should go back to the others" Tenchi said, rubbing Ryoko's back comfortingly. "I'm sure we can figure something out together"  
"Alright. Lets go Ryo-Ohki"

--------------------

"And then she took off, just like that" Tenchi told the others, as everyone gathered together inside Yagame to tell what had happened.  
"Just before Tokimi's ship disappeared?" Kiyone asked, sitting down next to Mihoshi.  
"Yeah. Looks like Tokimi doesn't want us getting in the way here" Tenchi replied.

They all went silent as they tried to figure out what they could do.  
"I think that Tokimi cannot complete this task if we are there" Ayeka spoke up "She doesn't want us to get in her way, so she is trying her best to stop us following her"  
"It's Tsunami" Matt added, grabbing everyone's attention. "I think she doesn't want Tsunami there, she could have the power to stop Tokimi's plan and return everything to normal"  
"He's got a point. A goddess may just be the answer to dealing with another goddess" Kiyone joined in.  
"Whatever, I think we should just get out there and track them down" Ryoko said, getting up to leave the room. "We need to think of a plan quickly before we catch up with them again. But until then I need to think by myself"

Tenchi went to follow her before Ayeka grabbed his arm.  
"Give her some time Lord Tenchi, seeing miss Washu like that must be hard on her" she said softly.  
"We should all get some rest right now" Tenchi replied, walking off himself before everyone else made their own way.

--------------------

A few hours had passed and Yagame slowly made its way through space as everyone thought about what was going to happen and what they were going to do to deal with Tokimi. Most of the group had gone to get some rest, but there were still a few that were awake.

Ryoko had started wondering around the ship after some time alone. Looking out into space as she wondered what they could do against Tokimi.  
"Tsunami cant stop this. If she tries to stop Tokimi, no one will be able to protect us. How are we supposed to stop her?" She thought to herself as started out of the window into the vast empty space outside.  
"You ok?" Matt said, causing Ryoko to turn to face him quickly as he spoke. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you"  
"No, its ok, just trying to think about what were going to do"  
"I think that the gems have an important part in this" Matt replied, walking over to Ryoko and leaning against the window as she turned to carry on looking out of it.  
"What makes you think that?" she asked, looking down at her own gem for a moment.  
"When Tokimi was on board this ship, I managed to get her with my own beam and it really seemed to hurt her. Enough to make her retreat at least"  
"She did take some of the gems, didn't she?" Ryoko asked, thinking back to when Tokimi had taken Washu away. "When you were helping her, if I remember correctly"  
"Ah, yeah. Sorry about that." Matt said, trying to smile as he slowly took a step back from Ryoko.  
"But you may have an idea there"  
"Really? What are you thinking?"

Ryoko went silent for a minute, starting down at the gem on her wrist.  
"If we can get one of the gems away from Washu, that may be enough to break Tokimi's hold on her" she said, looking at Matt.  
"Great, now we just have to get close enough to a goddess who could probably kill us with a flack of her wrist if she wanted to" Matt replied sarcastically.  
"It may be out only chance, someone would have to keep Tokimi occupied though"  
"What about Tenchi and Sasami?" Matt asked  
"Maybe, if Tenchi can use the light hawk wings to fight her and Sasami can get Tsunami to help him, they could keep her busy while we try to deal with Washu"  
"We? I don't think I'd be able to stand up against her. I shouldn't have even used these gems when Tokimi was here"

Matt stood upright, ready to make his way to his room.  
"You were doing it because you were doing what you thought was right" Ryoko said, her voice sounding quite gentle as she spoke. "If it had been Tenchi there, I would have done the same to Tokimi, even if it could hurt me"  
"You really love him don't you" Matt said, smiling a little.  
"Yeah, I'd do anything for him."  
"I wish I could be as strong as you Ryoko. I don't think I can do everything that I'd have to help the person I love"

Ryoko smiled, walking over to Matt and placing a hand on his shoulder.  
"Just try your best and do what you can. I'm sure she'd do the same for you" she said, walking past him as she finished.  
"Thanks Ryoko"  
"Don't mention it, now get some rest"

--------------------

"Goodnight Kiyone" Mihoshi said as she left the bridge, leaving Kiyone to finish some work on Yagame's systems.  
"Goodnight Mihoshi" Kiyone replied, typing away at her console. "Yuki-Nojo, ready to go to auto pilot?"  
"Yes Kiyone" Yuki-Nojo replied from his spot in the ceiling. "I've managed to detect a faint trail from the target and the ship is ready to pursue"  
"Good, follow the ship, but don't get too close, I don't want them to try and take us out again until we can land safely"  
"Very well. Starting pursuit now"  
"Thanks Yuki-Nojo, wake everyone up when we get to their destination"  
"Of course"

Kiyone yawned, de-activating her console before getting up and leaving the bridge. She decided to make her way around the ship, checking up on a few things before deciding to call it a night.

--------------------

"Ryoko?" Tenchi called out quietly as he entered one of the bedrooms in the ship.  
"Right here, Tenchi" Ryoko replied, sat on her bed, staring out into space. She already had the bed-sheets around her but wasn't ready to sleep yet. "Cant sleep?"  
"No, you?"

Ryoko shook her head, before looking over at Tenchi.  
"Is there something you wanted to talk about?" she asked, patting the space on the bed beside her. Tenchi nodded and sat down with her.  
"Do you think miss Washu will be ok after this is all over?" Tenchi asked, looking at the floor.  
"I think so. If we can do this right, we may be able to get her back to normal without having to hurt her too much"  
"What if it doesn't work?" Tenchi asked looking at Ryoko.  
"I don't know. I'd rather not think about what might happen to any of us if this doesn't work"

Tenchi nodded, gently placing a hand on Ryoko's as things went silent.  
"I'm sure everything will work out just fine" He said, squeezing her hand lightly to try and reassure her.  
"Tenchi" Ryoko spoke out quietly. She moved around so she was on her knee's as she moved closer to Tenchi, wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace.

Things were silent again as Ryoko held onto Tenchi, until Tenchi moved Ryoko away for a moment, holding her by her shoulders.  
"Tenchi?" Ryoko said, a little puzzled.  
"Ryoko, no matter what happens, I'll be here for you" He said to her gently, before pulling her in and kissing her lips softly as he held onto her.

--------------------

"Were here sister" Tokimi said, looking out of her ship as her warped part of the Universe came into view.  
"Good" Washu replied, walking over to meet the other Goddess, looking out at her sisters home. "Interesting choice"  
"The shape of my palace is to keep unwanted guests out. Only those who know where to go can find us"  
"A shame. I would have liked Ryoko and the others to be here, could have made things more interesting"  
"No matter. We will be done soon."

Washu nodded, leaving her sister to be, closing a door behind her.  
"It's just a shame Tsunami isn't here. It would have been nice to have both of you here when this is over. No matter, as soon as we are done, Tsunami will be no more and only Washu will be left before I have full control over the Universe"

--------------------

Authors Corner - Oh god! Finally! Another bout of writers block out the way and another chapter closer to the end of my story. The plot is coming to a close and the final parts of Matt's story will be revealed soon along with a romance beginning to bloom.

Thanks to those who reviewed the previous chapter, and those of you who have waited patiently for the latest update. I'll be sure to keep the ball rolling for the next chapter.  
Speaking of which, get ready for the battle for the universe to begin. As our heroes prepare to fight a friend in order to save her.

P.S - Thanks to moonstone cabbit who spotted a mistake I made with names. Should be fixed now.


	19. Battle against a Goddess

"Still not there?" Matt said, walking into the bridge of Yagame, getting Kiyone's attention.  
"Almost. Have a look" Kiyone replied, bring up a screen.

Matt leaned over her seat, looking at the image of a strange section in space, where everything seemed to be mashed together.  
"Weird"  
"I know, the scanners are saying this is where Tokimi was going to. Her ship went in there and suddenly disappeared" Kiyone said, turning the image off and looking at Matt, just realising how close he was to her right now.  
"Good. How long till we get there?" Matt replied, still looking ahead, out into space.  
"I'd say an hour, maybe two?"  
"Alright, we all better start getting ready"  
"What are you going to do? We all know what those gems will do to you"  
"I don't know. I want to do as much as I can to help, but I'm worried about these gems too." Matt said, finally turning his head to look at Kiyone, both of them stopping for that moment, staring at each other.

As they looked at each other, Kiyone could feel herself moving a little closer to him, inching herself towards him ever so slightly, both of them blushing lightly.  
"Kiyone. There is a large energy signature being picked up ahead of us" Yuki-Nojo spoke out, causing both Kiyone and Matthew to look away from each other, blushing a little more.  
"Um, thanks Yuki-Nojo, try and take care of it for me while I tell the others" Kiyone replied, pressing a few buttons on her console.

Rubbing the back of his head nervously, Matt made his way to the door, still blushing slightly.  
"Um, I should get the others" He said, turning around to leave, only to bump into the wall before quickly moving to the door and leaving the bridge. Kiyone just smiled a little, trying not to laugh before continuing her work.

--------------------

"Ryoko" Tenchi said softly, trying to get her attention. They had spent the night together, in each others arms, and Ryoko was resting happily, laying her head next to Tenchi's.  
"Mmm, just a little longer Tenchi" Ryoko mumbled, wrapping her arms around his chest.  
"I'm sorry Ryoko, but we have to get going. Got to be ready for anything"  
"Alright" Ryoko said, sitting up and yawning.

Tenchi sat up as well, giving Ryoko a light kiss on the cheek before a knock came at the door.  
"Hey, Ryoko. Looks like we'll be catching up with Tokimi soon, hope your ready for this" Matt said, his voice a little muffled through the door.  
"Fine. I'll be out soon" she replied, standing up to let her battle gear materialize around her. "Tenchi?"  
"Yes Ryoko?"  
"I don't want you to hold back. Were going to need everything we've got while we fight Washu and Tokimi. And who knows what else that bitch has waiting for us?"  
"Don't worry, I'll do everything I can" Tenchi replied, standing up and putting a hand on her shoulder. "I promise"

Ryoko smiled, before looking at the gem on her wrist.  
"I'm ready." she said to herself, clenching her hand into a fist. "And I'll make sure Tokimi pays for this"

--------------------

"My lady, the others appear to have arrived" D3 said as he appeared before Tokimi and Washu. "They will be landing shortly"  
"Let them come sister" Washu spoke out, smiling a little. "If they were to be here as we did what we have to do, it would truly destroy them"  
"Very well" Tokimi replied, looking at D3 "Have the defences stand down until they arrive at this point, then there should be more then enough to keep them occupied so they do not interfere with my plans"  
"Yes my lady, I shall have them wait" D3 said, fading out of view.

Washu looked around her, at the vast hall in space, shadowed figures standing high above her.  
"My council" Tokimi said, answering Washu's question before she could ask. "They watch over parts of the universe for me. Telling me of any irrational changes that need to be dealt with."  
"I thought a goddess was supposed to be omnipotent" Washu replied, looking over to Tokimi.  
"Some people believe that, yes. But I can only see so far. I gave these people that power to watch over different galaxies. Then they tell me about anything they discover, like the boy with the light-hawk wings"

Washu nodded, standing next to the other goddess.  
"So what do we do now?" She asked.  
"This spell takes time, I will only need you to grant your powers to it so it may continue on its own" Tokimi replied.  
"What about your power?"  
"Mine will be placed into it as well. Do not worry sister, it is only a fraction of what we have, enough to let the spell work by itself. Then we can watch your friends try and save you" Tokimi said, smiling evilly.  
"I see, this will be interesting"

--------------------

Ryoko appeared in front of Yagames bridge in her battle gear, deciding to check for any danger now that they had landed in Tokimi's domain.  
"What's up with this place? Everything seems like its mashed together" she said to herself, looking around the immediate area before looking into the distance where everything seemed to spiral towards a single point. "Its all clear guys, come on out"

Yagames transporter activated, with the others appearing below Ryoko, most of them had also changed into their battle gear, with the exception of Sasami and Matthew.  
"I feel underdressed" Matt said, looking at the others, who seemed ready for whatever would come next.  
"You should take this" Mihoshi said, handing him a spare blaster "Just in case"  
"In case of what? I'm coming with you"  
"No, we need someone to watch over Sasami, but the rest of us should be able to take care of anything before it can reach you" Ryoko replied, floating in front of him. "You cant use the gems unless you want to risk your life, I don't want either of you in harms way right now"

Sasami stepped forward, making sure everyone could see her.  
"Ryoko, I want to help Washu too, and I'm sure Matthew does as well, I don't want to stay behind this time." She said, speaking strongly, making sure she would be heard. "Besides, Tsunami may be able to help stop Tokimi"

The others looked at Sasami and Ryoko, all of them waiting for Ryoko to disagree. Matt watched them with a little hope, not wanting to be left on the sidelines when someone he considered a friend was in danger.  
"Alright" Ryoko agreed reluctantly, sighing as she turned toward where everything seemed to meet. "Just be careful, both of you. Now lets get going"

Ryoko started off, with Tenchi and quickly following her.  
"Thanks Sasami" Matt said lightly, giving her a polite smile, which she smiled back too.  
"Its okay, I want to do what I can too, so lets go" she replied, dashing after Mihoshi and Kiyone, who had already gone ahead to catch up with the others. Matt looked ahead into the distance, gripping the blaster he had been given tightly.  
"Just a little longer Washu, I promise I'll make it up for you" he said to himself, slowly walking after the others.

--------------------

"They coming along faster then I first anticipated" Tokimi spoke aloud, as she stood in the middle of the vast hallway, preparing her spell. An orb of pure white was glowing between her hands and slowly glowing. "No matter, the spell will be ready by then"

Washu watched Tokimi as she worked away, preparing herself. She turned to look at the way they came, awaiting the arrival of the others, wondering about the events that would unfold.  
"I wonder if they could stop us. We may be goddesses, but Tenchi holds the power of the light hawk wings, he could have the potential to surpass us. But he still has much to learn about controlling them"  
"Sister" Tokimi called out to Washu as the orb started to float on its own, now as tall as Sasami was. "I need you for this part of the spell. Lend your power to me to help let it work by itself"  
"Very well" Washu replied, turning to Tokimi and making her way over, not noticing the grin on her sisters face.

--------------------

"Were close now, I can feel it" Ryoko said, slowing down as she continued to float ahead of the others. "Washu is nearby, but I don't know where exactly"

As she looked on, Tenchi grabbed her arm, stopping Ryoko in her tracks.  
"Wait" he said calmly looking off into the distance "Look over there"  
"What is it?" Ryoko replied, following his gaze to spot a large building that had a similar design to Tokimis ship, only spires reached out from the top of it into the space around them. "A shrine?"

Tenchi nodded as Ayeka and the others joined them, looking over to the building just in time to see something begin to glow.  
"They must be there" Ryoko said, looking over to the others.  
"They are, Tsunami told me that she knows Tokimi is down there with Washu" Sasami replied getting everyone's attention.

Ryoko nodded before she continued moving, everyone following her silently, all of them thinking about what was about to happen and what they may have to do.

--------------------

"I'm done" Washu said flatly to Tokimi, not very interested in the orb before her.  
"Just in time" Tokimi replied looking away from her sister to the entrance of the building they were in, to see the large doors forced open by Ryoko.  
"I suppose thing will get more interesting now" Washu said, turning to watch the others join them in the vast room.  
"Let us see how well they do against my defences. D3, it is time"  
"Yes my Lady" D3 spoke out, unseen by everyone as shadows rose out of the ground in front of the goddesses, waiting for their orders. "Keep the intruders back" D3 spoke out again, calmly, as the shadows took on a more human shape and dashed towards their targets.

--------------------

Ryoko didn't see the first one coming at first, seeing it only moments before it struck her, but gave her enough time to block most of the force that sent her flying back through the doors she had opened only a second ago.  
"Ryoko!" Tenchi shouted out, igniting Tenchi-Kun in time to stop another shadow with a dull thud and it was forced back away from him. The shadow stood up, taking a more human form before producing a sword made of light and advancing again.

Ayeka watched the shadows as they stood before her and the others, only two of them seemed to be doing anything. One stood before Tenchi, with a blade of its own to fight him, the one that had attacked Ryoko had rejoined the other shadows, becoming motionless itself.

The one before Tenchi made a move, swinging its blade forward with enough energy that had to force the boy to parry the attack rather then try to fully block it, he managed to force the shadows strike to end up hitting the ground before Tenchi retaliated, landing firm strike to the shadows mid-section. But before Tenchi could savour the first blow, he noticed that the shadow became more like mist where it had been struck, stitching itself back together before attempting to swing its blade at Tenchi again, which he quickly dodged.

Before Tenchi could swing again, a blast of energy flew right past him, striking the shadow and leaving a hole in its chest. Ryoko floated back in, throwing another ball of energy at the shadow, striking it in the chest again, forcing it back as the hole became larger.  
"What does it take to kill these things?" Ryoko shouted, dashing at the shadow as Tenchi rolled out of the way, letting her slice it with her energy beam, she continued right past it, heading towards the other shadows which suddenly leapt towards her, forcing Ryoko to swing her blade rapidly and wildly to protect herself.  
"I don't get it, why don't they attack the rest of us?" Kiyone spoke aloud, not really asking anyone in particular.  
"Who knows but someone has to get in there and help!" Matt replied, running toward the group that was swirling around Ryoko as they dived in to try and attack her while she continued swinging her blade at them. As Matt got closer, Ayeka noticed it the line that quickly shone as he crossed over it, causing one of the shadows to leave the group and head for the boy.  
"That's it, they wont let us get any closer then that line" Ayeka stated to the others, unfortunately grabbing Matt's attention mid-dash so that the shadow coming at him could tackle him forcing him back over to the others.  
"Damn it" Matt said laying there for a moment before sitting up slowly "They can really hit you hard"

Tenchi had also gone to help Ryoko, but was doing better then Matthew right now, half of the shadows had broken away from Ryoko and were now trying to stop him. After diving under the first two shadows and slicing clean through the third when it attempted to ram Tenchi. Now one more was in his way, but there were even more then earlier behind him, the one he and Ryoko struck earlier was now to his side, along with the one that had just attacked Matt.

Without a moments hesitation, Tenchi ran at the shadow still between him and the group fighting Ryoko, swinging his blade to try and cut his target down. His blade met with the shadows own, signalling the other shadows to make their move, they all rushed after Tenchi ready to strike him while he was fighting the other shadow. But Tenchi was quick to react, forcing the one shadow back so he could swing Tenchi-Kun behind him, slicing through all the shadows.

Ryoko saw Tenchi from the corner of her eye as a shadow that had lagged behind the others crashed into him, causing him to fall into the other shadow, she couldn't help right now as the remaining shadows continued to fly around her, even with each swing of her blade they kept on trying to return the blows.

Growing ever more impatient, she quickly let of a number of energy balls, striking the shadows so she could fly away from them.  
"Ryoko! We can keep these creatures busy. You go and help miss Washu!" Ayeka shouted out as she joined the fight, punching one of the shadows that tried to fly back up to Ryoko.  
"Never thought you'd do me a favour princess" Ryoko replied, a slight grin on her face  
"Not exactly, you cant watch over Tenchi all the time, someone needs to keep an eye on him" Ayeka grinned as well, before having to dodge a shadow that tried to tackle her.

Ryoko smiled, silently thanking the princess before flying towards the light in the centre of the vast room.

--------------------

"I thought it would be a little more interesting then this" Washu said, watching the fight from her spot by Tokimi "Only three of them seem to be doing anything and they already know how to stop your defences from attacking them"  
"Don't worry sister, I'm sure things will become more entertaining soon enough. Those spirits will simply keep them busy for a while" Tokimi replied, before looking at the centre of it all. "Seems you may have your wish, your daughter wants to end this quickly.

Washu looked on as Ryoko separated herself from the others flying toward the goddesses.  
"Let me deal with her myself, hopefully she wont hold back if her friends are out of harms way" Washu said slowly, drawing her own beam sword before flying up to meet Ryoko head-on.

--------------------

Ayeka jumped over one shadow, landing on top of it so she could kick down and force it into the ground, as the shadow hit the floor, another shadow grabbed Ayeka forcing her back as they collided into the wall.

Tenchi was trying to fight off three at a time as his blade clashed with theirs, with each one he struck, it would step back and let another take its place, the constant assault was beginning to wear him down, as one shadow managed to strike Tenchi's arm, the force of it almost making him loose his balance.  
"We have to help, they cant take all of them on alone" Mihoshi said, looking over to the others. Matthew nodded, still sitting down as he watched.  
"Ayeka and Tenchi are much tougher then us" he replied "I could barely take one blow from those things without needing to catch my breath"  
"Does it matter?" Kiyone added, getting her blaster ready "We should do everything we can to help"

Sasami agreed, taking a few steps forward so she was right in front of the line stopping the shadows attacking her, but unnoticed by the others.  
"I suppose we could do it from here, these things have plenty of range right?" Matt asked, looking at the blaster he had been given earlier.  
"Yeah, but we could hit Tenchi or Ayeka by accident, I don't know about you, but I don't want to risk hitting them" Kiyone replied  
"We could try and get them to lure the shadows closer" Mihoshi suggested  
"I don't know, Tenchi seems busy enough trying to stop the ones attacking him, I think we'd be lucky if they could do that"  
"We should go out there and help them!" Sasami said, raising her voice over the others, forcing them to look at her as she crossed the line moving towards Ayeka.

Before they could stop her, all the shadows had turned to Sasami, sensing the power of Tsunami within her. Most of them dashed towards the princess, leaving enough to keep Ayeka and Tenchi busy.  
"Sasami no!" Mihoshi called out, as she and Kiyone quickly shot at the shadows heading towards her. Matt ran over the line after Sasami, putting his blaster away as he made his way to her, just in time to grab her and pull her to the ground as the shadows flew right over them.

He stood up, watching the shadows turn to face him, a few of them with holes over their bodies from when Mihoshi and Kiyone had hit them.  
"Stay behind me Sasami, I'll protect you" he said, taking hold of his blaster and aiming it at the shadows with one hand as he used his other in an attempt to shield Sasami.

In what should have been a few seconds, he felt that time seemed to slow down as the shadows came towards them. It was just as they were right in front of him that he heard a voice call out.  
"Matthew" it said softly, getting his attention as the shadows came down on him, causing everyone else to shout out to him and Sasami.

--------------------

Ryoko flew faster as she saw Tokimi ahead of her, creating an energy ball in each hand and she got closer, but her view was quickly blocked by Washu, who flew right at Ryoko, her blade ready to strike.

Ryoko dodged just him time, turning to throw the energy balls at Washu before drawing her own blade, the pair of them suddenly meeting as their blades collided.  
"Hello little Ryoko" Washu said playfully, grinning as their blades crackled with energy.  
"Washu" Ryoko replied, a look of anger on her face as she managed to force Washu back a little to put some space between them.

The watched each other for a moment, neither wanting to make the first move. Ryoko looked away for a moment to see Tokimi stood where she was before, a blank expression on her face as she watched them. Looking back, she was surprised that Washu hadn't moved in to attack yet.  
"So this is it? Your going to do what she says? I thought that if you were a goddess, you would have made your own choice" Ryoko spoke carefully, trying to make sure that Washu heard her words.  
"I'm only helping her with one thing, coming to fight you was my own choice, it would be very fitting to end this without joining the battle myself"  
"Why would you want to end the universe anyway? The Washu I know loved everything about this universe"  
"A minor issue, I'm sure if I was to become human again, I would love the new universe as much as this one"

Ryoko dashed at her, their blades clashing once more as Washu smiled again.  
"At least your not holding back now. it's a good thing really, with only a single gem, you must be struggling to hold your blade against mine" Washu spoke softly, yet her words seemed to hit Ryoko, making her draw away again as something came to her.  
"The gems. That must be it." She said to herself. "Tokimi knew she wouldn't be able to make you agree to any of this, and if you became a goddess by yourself, she wouldn't have any power of you. She must have done something to one of them gems, so that it would influence you to listen to her once you became a goddess"

Washu made the attack this time, her blade meeting with Ryoko's yet again, but slowly pushing her daughter back.  
"That's an interesting idea little Ryoko" Washu said, bringing her blade back before striking again, making Ryoko spin around when she tried to block "Tokimi did seem keen on having me touch the gems once we were aboard her ship"  
"Gah!" Ryoko moaned a little, steadying herself so she was facing Washu again. "But I suppose it wouldn't bother you now. She would already have control over you"  
"I suppose your right. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to continue this fight"

Ryoko looked down at Tokimi again, growling at her before striking blades with Washu once again.

--------------------

Matt opened his eyes, there was nothing around him but an eternal field, with long grass all around him, gently swaying in the breeze. Looking up he could see a clear sky and the sun shone down, warming his spirit.  
"Where am I?" he thought to himself. Looking around the area to see if he could spot anyone.  
"Matt?" a voice came from behind, forcing him to turn around, only to find a very familiar face.  
"Minagi?"  
"Yes and no. Its hard to explain" she said, smiling happily.  
"What's going on" Matt asked her, "And where am I?"

Minagi looked around as well, before sitting down on a stone bench that Matt could have sworn wasn't there a moment ago.  
"I suppose you could say this is your mind. Looks better then it used to" she answered him, motioning for him to sit down by her.  
"Used to?" Matt said, thinking for a moment. "You mean when everything was dark? How did this happen then?"  
"When Tsunami confronted the spirit that had been created by the gems draining your life, she seems to have removed most of him from your body, which seemed to remove his influence on what this place was like. There's only a small trace of him left of him now, I don't think that cant harm you."

Matt sighed, sitting down next to Minagi as he took everything in.  
"The last thing I remember, I was trying to save Sasami from those things" he said softly.  
"Oh that? Its still happening, but this moment in your mind will be like a fraction of a second compared to out there"  
"What, so what's happening right now?"  
"I think you were about to get a severe beating" Minagi replied, raising a hand as an orb appeared just over it, an image of the spirits right in front of Matt and Sasami inside it. Matt looked at the ground, one hand rubbing his face as he tried to think.  
"What am I supposed to do? I cant fight those things, if I use the gems, they could end up killing me even faster"

Minagi looked at him for a moment, phasing from her spot next to him and appearing behind him. Carefully wrapping her arms around his waist, she whispered into his ear.  
"Don't worry about the gems, let me take care of that now" she said softly, before giving Matt a light kiss on the cheek.

--------------------

"Sasami!" Ayeka screamed out as the shadows rushed at Matt, both he and Sasami disappeared from view as the shadows attacked. The symbol of the light hawk wings appeared on Tenchi's forehead as he sliced through the shadows around him, rushing towards where Sasami and Matt were before seeing they were being forced away.

The shadows seem to split up, some going either left or right of Matt, all of them meeting up again in the air to prepare another attack. Below them, Matt and Sasami were unharmed, but Matt was holding an energy blade in his hand, but it looked different now, unlike Ryokos, it now appeared to have a guard at the end of it, just like Minagi's blade. Matthew turned to look at the shadows, before looking down at Sasami and smiling.  
"I think everything is going to be okay now" he said calmly.  
"But what about?" Sasami tried to ask, before Matt patted her on the shoulder.  
"I think I have someone taking care of it, now head back over to Kiyone and Mihoshi. We'll take care of everything"

Nodding, Sasami quickly ran over to Mihoshi, who let the princess stand behind her and she held her gun ready. Tenchi and Ayeka walked over to Matt, the shadows hesitant for the moment while Tenchi still had the power of the light hawk wings active.  
"Are you sure your okay with that?" Tenchi asked, both he and Matt watching the shadows carefully.  
"Yeah, I think so. The energy transfer from Minagi seems to have stopped the gems from draining my own power away" Matt replied, his hand clenched tight as the blade glowed a calm red.  
"We should try and deal with these quickly lord Tenchi" Ayeka stated, looking at the two boys before turning her attention to the shadows herself.  
"Yeah, then we can stop Tokimi" Tenchi replied, before running forward and jumping up to swing his blade at all of the shadows.

Matt and Ayeka went either side of Tenchi, each of them blocking one of the shadows as four of them came down to fight. Ayeka raised her knee, catching the first shadow in the stomach before delivering a swift, yet powerful kick to its side, forcing it to fly to the ground, the next attempted to land a punch, which Ayeka blocked with one of her own, calling on her own power, she increased the force of her punch to send the second shadow back up into the air. Matt on the other hand quickly sliced through the first shadow coming at him, causing the second to create its own blade to clash with the boy. As they tried to force each other back, the first shadow got back up, drawing its own blade and trying to attack. Seeing it coming, Matt punched the one shadow in its face, before sticking blades with the other shadow.  
"These guys are relentless!" he shouted out, stepping back and swinging again to try and catch the shadow off guard.

Tenchi was doing much better then before, he felt refreshed now that he had almost used the power of the light hawk wings. After jumping into the air, he had sliced through a pair of the shadows, landing perfectly as the others followed him down, two more tried to strike him at once, but he blocked both of their blades, and with a quick spin to the side, he cut through both of these shadows as well.

"How are you supposed to beat something that wont die?" Kiyone said to Mihoshi and Sasami, watching the others seemingly endless battle with the shadows. "They must have a weakness somewhere"  
"Ah Matt, look out!" Mihoshi cried as both shadows that he was fighting struck at once, managing to block them both, one drew back as the other grabbed hold of him. The other shadow swung its blade again, hoping to end the battle quickly, Matt closed his eye, just seconds before the blade would have hit him, but the sound of a blaster and the lack of pain to himself made him look again. The blade which was a moment away from hitting him was turning into mist, and the shadows face, was now hollow from where Kiyone had shot it. In a few seconds the shadows body disappeared into mist before vanishing completely.  
"Why is it always the head?" Matt said to himself, looking over to Kiyone before kicking the shadow in front of him and swinging his blade at its neck, causing it to vanish too.

Tenchi and Ayeka saw this, giving them an advantage as they knew where to strike, they both ran head first into the remaining shadows, with Matting running after them to help finish them off.

--------------------

Ryoko landed on the ground in front of the orb that Tokimi was standing by, she tried to catch her breath, but quickly jumped back as Washu landed down next to her in an attempt to hit her while her guard was down.  
"Getting tired already Ryoko?" Washu asked, making her blade disappear. She looked over to Tokimi, smiling. "Enjoying yourself sister?"  
"Yes, though the others will be joining us in a moment" Tokimi replied, still watching the area that Tenchi and the other were. "No matter, we will be finished soon. The spell has already begun to take effect, soon we will just have to touch it and everything will be complete"  
"You, you'll pay for this" Ryoko said between breaths, she still had her blade firmly held in her hand, not ready to let her guard down yet.  
"I think you should worry more about yourself then I" Tokimi said bluntly.  
"She's used most of her energy now" Washu added, its hardly a challenge now.

Looking away for just a moment to see where Tenchi was, was all Ryoko needed to make her move, she disappeared from view, appearing right beside Washu as she swung her blade down, hitting Washu's arm. The goddess screamed out in pain as her hand dropped to the floor, before turning into nothing, leaving only the gem behind. Ryoko grabbed the gem just as Washu kicked her away, clutching her arm.  
"So, you still have some fight in you then" she said, the remains of her arm glowing as it rebuilt itself.  
"Yep, but now I've evened the odds" Ryoko said, grinning as she held up the Gem before letting it attach itself to her own arm.

Tokimi kept the blank look on her face, now watching Washu and Ryoko.  
"No matter" she thought to herself "Washu still has enough power for me to take hold of"

--------------------

"Were almost there, just keep going!" Tenchi called out as he ran ahead of everyone, eager to catch up with Ryoko as they approached the orb of light that she had flown too. He could feel the power of the light hawk wings building up as he got closer, getting further up the steps that remained in their way. As he got to the top, he saw Washu fending off a spirit that Ryoko had summoned, as she cast the spirit away, Ryoko would attack, more fiercely then he had ever seen.

Ayeka was the first to join Tenchi, appearing shocked at the battle that was going on.  
"Tenchi, should we help?" she asked, watching as Washu managed to knock Ryoko back, only for the spirit to assault her again.  
"I think Ryoko has to do this alone. This time we may just be getting in the way" Tenchi replied.  
"Why isn't Tokimi doing anything?" Kiyone asked as she and Mihoshi joined them as well.  
"I don't know, but if she wanted to end the universe, wouldn't she do everything she could to stop us?" Ayeka added, as Sasami and Matt finally joined them.  
"What is that thing?" Matt asked, looking at the orb of light behind Tokimi, "I can feel so much power coming from it"

Washu hit the ground for the first time during her battle with Ryoko, they weren't equal anymore, the goddess could feel a lot of her energy had been pulled away. She stood up, looking at Ryoko and the spirit she summoned, both were floating above her, waiting.  
"I don't get it, she should be matching me blow for blow, but now she's loosing it" Ryoko thought, before floating down in front of Washu. "What's taking away the power you had?" she asked, making the spirit behind her disappear.  
"I had to contribute to the spell, it requires more then one of us to begin" Washu replied, looking over at Tokimi "Isn't that right sister?"  
"No!" Sasami shouted out, getting Washu's attention, and forcing Tokimi to look at her as well. "That's not what its doing, its storing all of your energy up. Tsunami doesn't want to go near it, because it could do the same to her!"  
"What is she talking about?" Washu said, looking back to Tokimi  
"You gave your power willingly, soon there will be more then enough to give me a firm advantage over you and Tsunami" Tokimi replied, a grin upon her face once more. "I grew tired of watching both of you live like normal creatures, if you were going to spend all your time there, I thought it was best that someone made use of those powers you ignored"

Washu frowned, making her blade disappear.  
"So all of this was a ruse?" She said, slowly stepping towards the other goddess.  
"Dear sister, if you knew the real plan that I had prepared, I'm sure you would not have agreed, even in your mortal state, you would never let your power be used in such ways if you knew about it" Tokimi went on.  
"Well then, if you wanted my power, why not just throw me into this thing?" Washu shouted, pointing at the orb that they we right next too.  
"No!" Tokimi shouted, a sound of worry in her voice, which seemed to grab everyone's attention. "It is very unstable, touching it now could do anything!"

Ryoko appeared next to Washu, a sly grin on her face.  
"Well, maybe we should try it out" Ryoko said, getting a similar grin on Washu's face.  
"Why not? This could be fun to see" Washu replied, her mind feeling clear now that she knew the truth. "On three?"  
"Nah, lets just do it now"

Both Ryoko and Washu put a hand against the orb, causing the gems on them to glow and crackle, the orb itself beginning to glow violently. Both of them looked at Tokimi, sticking their tongues out to taunt her. Tokimi herself backed away from them as the orb started to crack.  
"Its not enough" Washu said, making the gem from her neck appear on her other hand as she placed it on the orb as well, Ryoko nodded, doing the same, making the orb crack even more as it shone brighter.

"Matt" Sasami said, tugging at his arm to get his attention.  
"What is it?" Matt replied, his view fixed solely on what was going on in front of them.  
"You should help them, the gem you still have may be enough to break the orb" She said looking up at him.  
"I don't know. Those two can probably take it, but after what the gem used to do to me, I don't know if this will make it happen all over again."

Matt almost jumped as Kiyone put a hand on his shoulder.  
"Hey, if anything like that happens again, you have all of us to help you" she said to him softly, giving him a little wink when he looked at her.  
"Alright, fine. But if I turn bad again, don't say I didn't warn you!" Matt said, heading over to Washu and Ryoko. Lifting the hand with the gemmed glove up to the orb, he stood beside Washu as he touched the orb, which seemed to latch onto the gem as it become ever more brighter.

As the five gems continued to crackle with energy, the orb shattered itself, creating a blinding light as the excess energy flung Ryoko, Washu and Matt away from where they were standing, the three of them landing in front of the others. A few moments later the light left from the orb disappeared and the five gems dropped to the ground, all separated from whoever had been holding them.

"Ryoko?" Tenchi called out as he rushed over to the woman as she sat up, trying to shake off the effects of the blow she received from the orb.  
"I'm fine" she replied, rubbing her head for a moment before looking at Tenchi, who was holding a hand out to her. "Thanks" she said softly, feeling herself blush slightly as she took his hand to let him help her up.

Washu got up and dusted herself off, looking like her old self again.  
"Well that was certainly interesting. I guess the power of a goddess just cant be contained like that" she said, noticing Tokimi was still there, now sat down on her knees, looking up at the space above them all. "I suppose this isn't the last we've heard of you then"  
"Sister, I may have been wrong with my reasons for doing this" Tokimi replied, not looking as the little genius. "Even with my suggestions implanted in your mind, you still stood against me in the end. Seeing you and your daughter working together like that, perhaps I don't want to be alone anymore"

"Matt? I think its about time you got up too" Kiyone said, watching over Matt as he lay there, his eyes closed.  
"Just a few more minutes. My head hurts right now" he replied, putting an arm over his eyes to help block any light.  
"Alright, perhaps I can persuade you to get up" Kiyone grinned, prodding his side with one of her boots.  
"Fine, I'm up, I'm up" Matt said, finally getting up.

Leaving Tokimi alone for the moment, Washu looked walk over to the gems, picking them all up carefully.  
"Tenchi, Ryoko" she called out as she made her way over to them. "I think its best if you two keep hold of these" she said, holding four gems out to them, which Tenchi took hold of, before Ryoko took one herself and let it attach itself to her wrist.  
"Good as new" Ryoko beamed, grabbing Tenchi's arm lightly as they watched the others.  
"If you want, I can make a glove myself that can hold this gem for you again Matt" Washu spoke again, holding the last gem up to him.  
"Thanks Washu" he replied, before grabbing her for a quick hug "And I'm sorry about what happened"  
"Its ok, this probably would have happened sooner or later when I think about it"  
"What about Tokimi?" Mihoshi said, looking over at the goddess, who had turned away from them.

Washu smiled again, putting a hand on the Goddesses shoulder.  
"I think she's learnt her lesson. Besides, if its alright with Tenchi, I think she could come with us for a little while, spend time with her sisters"

Tokimi looked up at Washu, a gentle smile forming on her lips as a single tear rolled down her face.  
"Thank you , Washu"  
"Don't mention it. Now lets go home, we have a lot of stuff to deal with when we get back!"

--------------------

Authors notes - My god! Finally! Ah, I cant believe its been so long since I last updated this story. Hellish writers block, falling in love with someone and breaking up with them in 3 days, the Wii. There has been so much stuff that made it difficult for me to get back into the story, but I'm back with it and with one long chapter if I say so myself.

Thanks to those that have waited patiently for me to update this story, I promise I did not forget about you!

The next chapter will be up next month, I promise!

Next chapter - The return home, what will everyone do now that everything is peaceful again?


	20. One last Goodbye

"I have to say Matthew, I never expected you to pull off something like that" Washu said, her voice echoing through her lab.  
"Me neither, I didn't even know I could do it, but it just came to me" Matt replied, their voices bouncing around so much that it was hard to guess exactly where they were.  
"Well, you should get your clothes back on, I'm sure Sasami will be ready with breakfast soon."

Matt grabbed his clothes from the table beside him, putting his jeans back on first before making his way over to Washu as she looked at the data on one of her computers.  
"So, what exactly made it happen? I don't get all the details" he asked, looking at the data himself for a second before he blocked his own view with his top as he pulled it down over his head.  
"It seems that because of the amount of energy that had to be given to you from Minagi, her energy didn't just mix into yours, it blended itself into you, almost masking your own energy when you use the gems, and because the energy that both she and Ryoko have, it would stop the gems draining your energy away to get the most out of you"  
"Good to know, suppose I should still tone down the amount I use that gem though?"  
"Actually, no. You should be able to use them quite freely now"

Nodding, Matt stretched his arms, yawning a little.  
"You know" Matt said tiredly, yawning again before he continued "I still don't know why you always have us get undressed for these tests"  
"Well, I suppose I can tell you, if you keep it a secret" Washu said slyly, smiling at him.  
"Sure, if it gives me an answer"  
"I just do it for fun really" Washu grinned, getting a big smile on her face as she said it "You'd be surprised how much people comply with you when they think its part of the process"  
"Oh, your evil" Matt said, grinning as he gave her a playful push.  
"No, I'm just the greatest genius in the universe" Washu replied, poking Matts stomach.

--------------------

As Tenchi lay there in bed, he looked out the window as the light poured into his room. So much had happened recently that made him want to enjoy this moment for as long as possible, without having a care in the world right now.

"What you thinking about" Ryoko asked, wrapping her arms around him as she lay her head on his chest, smiling happily.  
"Nothing really, I'm just glad we can have some peace and quiet again." Tenchi replied, softly running a hand through Ryoko's hair. "Besides, it makes a change to wake up in bed without you having to sneak in for once"

Ryoko just carried on smiling, before sitting up and getting out of bed, not bothered by the fact she was practically naked, although Tenchi did blush when he looked over, deciding to keep looking out of the window for the moment.  
"Come on, lets get something to eat" Ryoko said putting on a loose vest along with some jeans. "Maybe then we can go enjoy the peace and quiet outside"

--------------------

Mihoshi yawned as she left the room she shared with Kiyone, rubbing her eyes before seeing Ayeka walking past.  
"Oh, morning Ayeka" Mihoshi yawned out, still tired after a full nights sleep.  
"Good morning Mihoshi" the princess replied as formally as ever. "I trust you slept well"  
"Yeah, just fine" Mihoshi continued tiredly, rubbing her eyes again.  
"She always does. Soon as Mihoshi gets into bed, she's out like a light most of the time" Kiyone joined in, closing the door behind her and the other detective.

Ayeka smiled, watching Mihoshi walk off towards the stairs, as she started to make her own way down.  
"What about you princess? How did you sleep?" Kiyone asked, walking behind Ayeka as they reached the top of the stairs.  
"Well, I cant say that the recent events haven't bothered me, but I haven't lost too much sleep over it"  
"That's good. I don't know why, but something was stopping me from getting some decent rest. I cant put my finger on why"  
"I think I know one of the reasons"

--------------------

"Here you go Ryo-Ohki" Sasami said, smiling as she put some boiled carrots down for the cabbit, who mewed happily before munching on them. "Those are looking good, do you want to help with the rolled omelettes?"

She looked over at Tokimi, who was attempting to help prepare breakfast by grilling some fish for everyone's breakfast.  
"This is rather difficult, why not just use my powers to prepare something that can be unrivalled?" The goddess asked, leaving the fish alone as she stepped over to Sasami who was cooking some eggs.  
"Cooking is something that comes from the heart, you put your soul into it and when people enjoy what you've made, it can make you happy."  
"Is that what you believe Sasami?"  
"Yeah, I mean, when I see everyone enjoying their meals so much, it makes me happy, because I know I did something to make them happy"  
"I see, there is so much I have to learn of. I have always been told what was happening in the universe, but never experienced it"  
"What cooking Sasami?" Washu called out from the next room, the sound of her footsteps moving towards the kitchen. "Smells nice"  
"Oh, Washu! Were making rolled omelettes, grilled fish with steamed rice and miso soup!" Sasami replied happily.  
"We?" Washu asked, opening the door to see Tokimi, who was looking at the eggs with confusion. "Oh, good morning Tokimi"  
"Good morning to you sister" Tokimi replied, still looking at the eggs.  
"Oh, let me show you" Sasami said, cracking an egg open and pouring its contents into a bowl, Tokimi copied her actions with another egg, still trying to understand how it worked.  
"Enjoying yourself?" Washu asked, watching as they stirred the eggs, adding in some salt and pepper to the mix.  
"It is quite difficult" Tokimi replied, as Sasami handed her the fork to stir the eggs.  
"I'll get some fillings ready" Sasami said, looking at what they still hadn't used yet.

Washu smiled walking back into the living room, seeing Matt walking up the stairs to get some fresh clothes on. Mihoshi was already sat down, giving off a small yawn as she turned on the TV. Kiyone sat down next to her while Ayeka made her way to the bathroom to have a quick wash.

Mihoshi flicked through the channels, stopping when she saw an episode of space-police police men was starting, turning the volume up a little and smiling happily, Kiyone just shrugged her shoulders and let out a little sigh, but decided not to make a big deal about it.

As Ryoko and Tenchi came down the stairs, Washu could see how happy they were right now, holding each others hand as if nothing had happened in the last few days. But everyone seemed to be getting on with things now, and they didn't show any problems with having Tokimi in the house, although she suspected that there were some unheard murmurs from a few of them.

--------------------

"Azaka?"  
"Yes Kamedake?"

The guardian logs stood there, motionless as always, on the edge of the Masaki residence, ready to see who was coming to visit.  
"Do you think we'll ever get some good screen time?" Kamedake asked, turning to look at his fellow guardian.  
"Only if they want more gags" Azaka replied, before they both left out a heavy sigh. "At least its another wonderful day on"  
"Yes, I know" Kamedake interrupted "Another great day on earth" he mimicked the other guardian "I just wish we got to do a little more, that's all"  
"I'm sure that in time, they will find something for us to do"  
"Aside from welcome signs and extra laundry poles you mean?" Kamedake asked  
"I suppose, perhaps they may need something to hold up a net for tennis. But anything could happen on peaceful planet earth"

Kamedake looked at Azaka, who would have been smiling right now if he had a face, he then turned back to his normal position, sighing.  
"Why me?"

--------------------

Everyone was enjoying their breakfast, some of them chatting away, trying not to notice that Ayeka was getting annoyed with Ryoko, who insisted on trying to feed Tenchi a bit of her food. She couldn't really help it, even if Tenchi was with Ryoko now, she still felt the same way about him, but she felt that she would really miss fighting with Ryoko over him.

Like the last time she came, Tokimi seemed in a state of bliss as she ate, savouring the taste of the food, the fact that she had helped make it, making it that much better. Everyone else seemed to enjoy their breakfast too, but Tokimi didn't seem to take this in, as she was enjoying her own that much.  
"Ahem" Washu coughed lightly, getting everyones attention, although Tokimi and Mihoshi slowly continued to eat. "I just thought I should let everyone know about my new invention" she said, reaching into her pocket, which caused most people to get a look of fear on their faces. Until she pulled out a small remote.  
"What is that miss Washu? A universal remote?" Mihoshi asked, which almost made Washu fall over.  
"No, that's a little to standard for me. This is the Washu brand, dimension jumper five! With this baby, Matt can travel to his universe!" Washu declared proudly.  
"Why five?" Kiyone asked  
"Well, just a few problems here and there. The first was only a teleported, the second would teleport you somewhere, but change you into a sofa" she said, a little annoyed at what the second model did when she tried it, although it made a few of the others smirk. "For some reason, the third one would made sofas appear out of nowhere, and the fourth one was too complex for anyone other then myself to understand"

Matt looked at the device, which looked just like a remote control, only with a little screen at the top of it.  
"I guess this means I'll be leaving soon" he said, looking a little glum about it. "I suppose I should get ready to go"

He got up, thanking Sasami and Tokimi for the food before stepping out of the room. He slid the door behind him shut before leaning against it gently, sighing.  
"I guess its time to move on" he said to himself, sighing as he walked through the empty living room and headed up the stairs.

--------------------

"I wonder why he didn't tell us" Kiyone asked no one in particular as everyone left in the kitchen was clearing the dishes from the table.  
"Its his own choice really" Washu said idly, "Maybe he didn't want to bother us with it"  
"I wonder why he wants to leave so soon" Sasami added, as she prepared to wash the dishes. "He seems to like it here, and everyone really likes him too"  
"Maybe he feels the same away about it that I did about you, my sisters" Tokimi joined in, watching Sasami again as she placed some plates down  
"I wouldn't be surprised it that's why" Washu replied

Kiyone put some plates down, still thinking it over.  
"I just feel that if this is what he wants to do, he should have told us about it"  
"Well, why not ask him about it?" Washu asked the detective, getting a nod from Kiyone  
"Cant hurt" Kiyone replied, picking up a few more dishes.

--------------------

Mihoshi had sat back down in front of the TV, watching as the news came on.  
"This just in" a fox-like presenter announced, looking down at its notes "The spaceship Injustice has been recovered from the region of space near a planet known as earth."  
"Hmm, why does that name sound familiar?" Mihoshi thought as she drank some tea.  
"The ship belonging to the space pirate Darkfox was had been left drifting through space unmanned, most of the escape pods had been ejected" the presenter continued as images of the ship came up, showing it being pulled through space by a number of small ships.  
"I wonder if Kiyone wants to see this?" Mihoshi thought again, getting up and going off to look for her partner.  
"The ship was originally reported by a pair of unnamed galaxy police officers, saying they found the ship in the state it was in. When other members of the galaxy police entered the ship, they found no one on board and no signs of struggle in most of the ship."

An image of the room they had fought Darkfox appeared on the screen, showing the state it was in.  
"This room seemed to show the only sign of a conflict. Almost left in ruins, this vast room seemed to have been torn apart in a battle. Although there is no sign of the pirate dark fox, the galaxy police assured us that he had been killed at an earlier point in time, we will bring you more details as soon as we recieve them"

--------------------

Matt knew there wasn't much he had to take with him, a small set of clothes, a copy of the data from his ship that he salvaged from the escape pod he landed in, and the glove with the gem in it.  
"I better get that from Washu" he said to himself as he packed everything away into a large bag, slinging it over his shoulder, ready to take it downstairs.  
"Matthew?" Kiyone said softly, tapping on the side of the open doorway to what would have been his room now.  
"Oh, come in Kiyone" he said, putting the bag back down after seeing who it was.

Kiyone gave him a light smile, before stepping inside and sitting down in front of him.  
"So your really going?" she asked him, trying not to sound bothered by it. "We just got back from saving Washu, its seems so sudden that you'd want to leave now"  
"I have to go back to my own earth Kiyone, who knows what happened when my ship exploded? I need to make sure everyone there is okay" he answered, remembering so much from his dimension that he missed right now. "I think the sooner that I can get back, then the sooner everything can back to normal for both dimensions"  
"That's not the point!" Kiyone almost shouted at him as she stood up, she blushed when she realised she was getting a little too emotional about it and sat back down. "What about all of us? We wont just forget you because you leave us"  
"I know that. But that means the people in my dimension wouldn't have forgotten about me either"  
"Well why didn't you tell us?"

Matt went to reply, but he paused. He knew there were things that he had to do back in his own dimension, but there were things that seemed to hold him back, leaving a small impression of doubt in the back of his head.  
"Kiyone, I" he started, looking down at the ground as he tried to think of what to say. "I don't want to make this any harder then it already is, there are so many things that I really like here, and its going to be tough to leave it all behind" he sighed lightly, trying to hold back a few tears. "This just makes it harder, do you know what I me-ah!"

Matt was interrupted as Kiyone grabbed him in a hug, burying her face into his chest.  
"Its okay to be worried about it" she said to him, her voice a little muffled "But we can always help you if you talk to us"  
"Kiyone" Matt replied rather simply, getting her attention as she looked straight up at him. They stared at each other for a moment, before moving closer, their lips just inches apart.

--------------------

As they pulled away from a gentle kiss, they looked at each other, smiling happily. They knew things would be different now, but they would be able to deal with it.  
"Mihoshi! Cant you ever knock?" Kiyone shouted from inside the house, her voice being heard from all around the house.

Tenchi looked over to the house, before looking back to Ryoko and smiling again.  
"Good to know that nothings really changed" he said happily "I just wonder if Matt can handle what he could be getting himself into"  
"I'm sure he'll be fine. He seems like a tough kid, so I think he can deal with trying to get home" Ryoko replied softly, leaning against Tenchi and closing her eyes. "But right now, this is what I'm interested in"  
"Yeah, about that. Do you have to rub it Ayeka face so much? You were a little enthusiastic about trying to feed me that grilled fish"  
"Aww" Ryoko pouted, looking at Tenchi "Im not doing any harm Tenchi, and she knows that she would do the same thing if she could swap places with me"  
"Maybe, but I think the fact were together now should be enough to rub it in her face"

Ryoko grinned a little at Tenchi.  
"Maybe your right. But cant I annoy her just a little?" she asked happily, making Tenchi sigh a little.  
"Just make sure you don't end up demolishing the house again if you get into an argument with her, and I'll think about it"  
"Come on Tenchi" Ryoko pleaded "Let me have my fun"

Tenchi smiled at her again, before wrapping an arm around her and closing his eyes. He hoped things would only get better from now on.

--------------------

As everyone gathered outside to see Matt off, he was stood in the Masaki house entrance, trying to keep himself calm and stop himself blushing. If Mihoshi hadn't walked in on him and Kiyone, he couldn't tell what may have happened. Taking a few breaths he looked outside at everyone and stepped outside.  
"You don't have to do this" Washu said, as she leant against the outer wall of the house "If you want, your free to stay a little longer"  
"Its ok Washu. To be honest, I think if I stay, I might never get around to going home"  
"Alright, good luck then" she said softly, giving Matthew a light hug. "Your going to need these too"

Washu handed him a new glove with one of his gems placed into it and the dimension jumper, along with a manual.  
"If you ever need help, I built in a communicator that links directly to my lab, but that manual should tell you everything you need to know"  
"Thanks Washu. Maybe I'll call you someday"

Matt smiled, making his way over to the others.  
"Well, I guess we should get this over with before one of us gets upset" he said, before looking at Mihoshi, who was already holding back tears "Before more then one of us gets upset then"  
"Good luck Matt, I hope you get home in one piece" Tenchi said, giving the other boy a light pat on the shoulder.  
"Yeah, and I might come back and get you a souvenir" Matt replied, trying to keep his mood up for now.  
"I know we got off on the wrong foot, but" Ryoko started, giving him a light hug, "Your okay. And I'm sure you'll find Minagi again once you get back"

Matt nodded, leaving that alone for the moment as he walked over to the princesses who were with Tokimi.  
"I do hope that we get to see you again" Ayeka said softly, bowing courteously to Matthew, while Sasami hugged him. Tokimi watched, simply nodding to him to say goodbye.  
"We'll all miss you Matthew" she said, holding back a few tears herself.  
"I'll miss you too Sasami" Matt replied, smiling as he patted the little princess on the head just before Ryo-Ohki jumped up and mewed a few times "you too Ryo-Ohki" he continued, patting the cabbits head too.  
"Um, are you sure you'll be ok?" Mihoshi asked, worrying about him, almost as if she were a mother "You'll be careful right?"  
"I'll be fine Mihoshi, don't worry about it. You take of yourself too okay?"

Mihoshi smiled, before she started to cry and grabbing him in a tight hug, which was a little too tight for Matt's liking.  
"Ah! Mihoshi, cant breath! Too tight!" he gasped out, before Kiyone pulled the other detective off him.  
"That's enough Mihoshi, anymore and he's going to be hurt before he even starts" she said, a little annoyed as she said it.

Matthew watched as Ayeka and Sasami took Mihoshi from Kiyone before she went back over to Matt.  
"So, this is really it then?" she said, trying to seem casual about it.  
"Yeah, I suppose so" Matt replied, the pair of them feeling a little awkward.  
"I, well. Take care, okay?"  
"I will. Goodbye Kiyone" Matt said softly, before hugging her. As he went to step back, Kiyone held him a little closer. Whispering to him.  
"I hope you come back to see us again one day"  
"Maybe, we'll just have to see what happens"

As they finally broke the hug, Matt looked at the device, trying to figure out what to do.  
"Oh, it's the button on the top left" Washu said, standing next to Tenchi and Ryoko. Matt noddes and stepped away from the others.  
"See you guys, it was fun" he said rather simply before pressing the button.

As he was surrounded by a white light, he looked at everyone, a tear rolling down his cheek before disappearing. Everyone stood there, a little surprised, apart from Washu, who seemed more annoyed then anything.  
"Was that supposed to happen?" Tenchi asked, looking at the space Matthew had been, where a leather sofa was now sitting.  
"I hope not" Washu replied bluntly, walking over to it and checking her data. "At least its just a sofa. Alright then, shows over I suppose"

She made her way back inside, followed by Tokimi, Sasami and Ayeka.  
"Come on Ryoko, I think its about time Grandpa knew about us" Tenchi said, as he started walking towards the shrine, leaving Mihoshi and Kiyone alone.  
"I miss him already" Mihoshi said, sniffling a little.  
"I miss him too Mihoshi" Kiyone replied softly, placing her hand on her partners shoulder. "Come on, lets get a drink to take our minds off things"

--------------------

As the light around Matt faded away, he looked around, seeing the Masaki house in the distance.  
"Some dimension jumper that was. Must have gave me the wrong thing" he thought as he started walking to the house. "So much for a dramatic exit"

As he made his way to the house, he saw someone in the distance rapidly heading towards him.  
"Matthew!" she called out happily, drawing closer while Matt suddenly recognised who it was.  
"Don't tell me she made a time machine, this is going to be awkward" he said to himself, watching the blue haired girl running over to him happily.

--------------------

Authors corner - Not exactly next month, but pretty close. Sorry it's a short chapter, but I had to end it there. Had to stop myself playing Pokemon diamond right now, its calling for me! If anyone is wondering about why I did that whole sofa thing, it was half for fun, and half tribute to Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.

Well, I guess its pretty much done. But I've left that open for if I do make my spin-off series 'The Mis-adventures of Matt Dark' but if I do that or not depends on what I can think of to do.

I'll see you guys round, hope you enjoyed the story! But keep tuned in for the bonus chapter to see what happens to everyone now things finally get back to normal.


	21. Conclusion

Almost a year had gone by since the events around the Masaki household had occurred. Things had certainly calmed down since Matthew had left.

Ayeka had left for a while in order to visit her parents, she hoped that seeing her family may take her mind of Ryoko and Tenchi as their relationship had bloomed and they were now a lot more intimate, which still bothered her due to her feelings for the young man.

She had tried to get Sasami to join her, but the little princess had declined, wanting to stay on earth, especially as she had just started going to school, after some help from Washu to create some papers giving Sasami a fake history on earth to stop questions being raised.

Washu didn't feel like things had changed too much for her, she still spent most of her time in the lab, working on new projects, upgrading old machines, repairing damage that Mihoshi had caused. But she found herself spending more time out of the lab, not just watching soaps or joining meals. She spent a lot of time with Tokimi, almost like sisters normally would.

Tokimi herself had spent time with everyone in the house, learning more about what was as close to a normal life that the people living there had. She would cook with Sasami whenever she could, sometimes doing a meal by herself when Sasami was at school. She still didn't understand a few things about the lives they lived, but she was glad to learn what she could.

Tenchi and Ryoko had grown much closer, they had now moved into Ryoko room together after deciding Tenchi's own room was a little small for both of them. Ryoko was starting to help out a little more then normal too, usually joining Tenchi as he worked in the fields, she still liked to tease Ayeka about the relationship, and she kind of missed that right now. Tenchi on the other hand was enjoying the extra bit of piece and quiet, he missed the princess too, but was focused on Ryoko now, he didn't get embarrassed by her that much anymore, which let him be a little more daring, in more ways then one.

Mihoshi and Kiyone got on with their lives as normal, going into space every few days to monitor the region of space they were guarding. Mihoshi's accident rate had almost dropped by half after Kiyone forced her to re-take a piloting course, while it certainly helped a little, it didn't stop the fact that Mihoshi seemed to be naturally clumsy, meaning they still had more then enough crash landings and accidents in Washu's lab. Kiyone was a little quieter now, she was able to cope with Mihoshi's accidents a little better now, but she still lectured her partner about it, though there wasn't as much annoyance in her voice now.

And as for Ryo-Ohki, the cabbit was just as happy as ever, given regular attention and plenty of carrots. Although she started learning how to talk, while Ryoko and Washu could already understand her due to their mental link, and Sasami and Tokimi understood her partly from their being goddesses, there were times when all four of them were busy and talking with the other housemates was more then a little difficult, so after some failed gadgets Washu tried to use, Ryo-Ohki was slowly learning by herself, quickly learning 'carrots' and 'thank you'

--------------------

Tenchi and Ryoko were currently out on another date and Sasami was on her way home from school. Tokimi, Mihoshi and Kiyone were infront of the TV, drinking some tea as they watched the end of the latest drama that had caught their attention.

Washu walked out of the door from her lab as she heard the music for the credits start up, Ryo-Ohki following her in her child form.  
"Aww, that was a good episode" Mihoshi said as she grabbed a cookie from a plate between her and the other girls.  
"Yeah, I didn't think they would end it there though" Kiyone replied, before sipping some tea.  
"I still don't understand why they make the concept of love sound much easier then it would be in a real situation" Tokimi commented, "If real people were to try that, I am certain they would not get the same results.

Washu smiled, sitting herself down next to Kiyone.  
"It makes people happy, gives them a little hope I suppose" she replied, picking up a cookie for herself. "It makes people feel good to see that people are getting together like that. It may not be that realistic, but it's pretty close"  
"Anyone mind if I change the channel?" Mihoshi asked, taking hold of the remote. Receiving no objections, she pressed a few buttons, making a cartoon appear on the screen.

Kiyone, Washu and Tokimi talked to eachother as Mihoshi watched the show, Ryo-Ohki sitting down next to her to watch too. Washu didn't pay the TV much attention until she heard 'LCL' which got her attention, forcing her to watch the screen.

"It smells like blood" a young boy could be heard saying as a group of people looked at a screen.  
"You'll get used to it" A blonde woman replied, looking like a doctor due to her clothing "It helps you connect with the eva, so you can control it"

"That sounds awfully familiar" Washu spoke aloud to herself.  
"What?" Kiyone asked simply.  
"One of my old projects, I came across a substance that was like water, yet breathable, it also had a special energy signature to it that can allow someone to control thing"  
"Like what?"  
"Loads of things, mainly electronic or mechanical, I always thought it would be great for complicated machinery, as there wouldn't be so many buttons to press"  
"Like a giant robot?" Mihoshi asked, hearing the conversation.  
"What?" Washu replied, before looking at the screen again "I don't belive it"

She watched as a mech ran through a city, charging at a giant monster.

"They took my idea! How did they even do that? I was millions of light years away when I thought this up!"  
"Calm down sister, its only an animated television show, perhaps it was merely coincidence" Tokimi said flatly, hoping to calm her sister, neither hearing the front door open.

Sasami smiled as she heard everyone in the living room, she was always glad to have someone ready to talk to when she got back from school.  
"Hello everyone!" she called out, causing Washu to stop her complaints and smile back to the princes.  
"Welcome home Sasami, I hope to had a good day" Washu said, deciding to pay the writer of the show a later visit to find out what else he knew.  
"It was ok, but I had the strangest feeling that someone was watching me on the way home"

Washu thought a moment, before walking over to Sasami.  
"Don't worry, next week I'll have a security droid watch you on the way to and from school"  
"Ok Washu, thanks"

Ryo-Ohki had already got up at this point and had walked over to Sasami to give her a hug.  
"H-Hi Sas, Sasami" she tried to say, though she was in her child form, she didn't sound at young as you would think, but she stuttered a little as she made sure she got the right words.  
"Hi Ryo-Ohki, want to help me with dinner?"  
"O-Ok!"

As they left for the kitchen, Kiyone smiled a little.  
"Ryo-Ohki's doing really well with her speech, isn't she?" she mentioned, after finishing her tea.  
"Yes, she may stumble on a few of her words, but she has done well for herself" Tokimi replied, standing up as she went towards the kitchen. "I think I will help with dinner as well"

--------------------

Tenchi and Ryoko were on their way back from their date, even though they had already eaten, they were both looking forward to Sasami's meal.  
"I wonder when Ayeka will get back" Ryoko thought aloud, which surprised Tenchi, she never really let out any thoughts about the princess.  
"You miss her too, don't you?" Tenchi asked, half expecting what the answer would be.  
"Yeah, it feels a little too quiet at home. We may not get along that well, but she was fun to have around"

Tenchi smiled and put his hand on hers, giving her a reassuring squeeze.  
"Don't worry, I know she'll come back, with Sasami here, I'm sure Ayeka will visit us at least"  
"I suppose so" Ryoko replied, resting her head on Tenchi's shoulder, smiling contently. "You know what's weird?"  
"What?"  
"When we were on our way to that restaurant, I could have sword someone was following us. But I couldn't quite put my finger on it"  
"Could you sense anything?"  
"No, and that's what bothered me, I couldn't figure out where the feeling was coming from"  
"I'm sure its nothing" Tenchi said, calmly giving Ryoko a kiss on her forehead. "Come on, its going to get dark soon"  
"Alright" Ryoko replied happily, not taking notice of the man watching them.

--------------------

A knock came from the front door of the Masaki house. Tenchi and Ryoko were already home, Katsuhito and Nobuyuki would come in freely, so no-one was sure who would be around at this time, especially as it was so late.

Ryoko phased in front of the door, yawning slightly "I'm coming, I'm coming" she said loud enough for whoever it was to hear before opening the door. "What do yo-" she went to say before noticing the man standing before her. "Who are you?"

The man looked at her, the expression on his face seemed to be a mix of anger and stupidity, he seemed to be the kind of person who would blindly rush into something with nothing to back himself up.  
"I am Tinios, of the planet Spiernesun, your every action insults me! I have come to challenge you" he shouted out blindly, almost blurting it out randomly.  
"Oh please, you know who I am?" Ryoko yawned, already bored as the man before her tried to make himself look tough.

Before the man could answer, one of Washu's teleportation holes appeared beneath him, dropping him into nothingness.  
"I don't think we need any more of that" Washu stated as she appeared next to Ryoko.  
"You know him?"  
"Not personally. I saw a report on him. He was going around to insult a lot of powerful people, all smarter, stronger and generally better then him, just because he thought he was tough"  
"And is he?" Ryoko asked curiously.  
"Not really" Washu replied, a little bored herself. "He entered a galaxy-wide tournament and was beaten in less then five seconds after his first match. And that was before they found out he was using someone else's name because of a grudge"  
"Why do we always get the idiots?"  
"No idea, but lets not worry about it, just get some sleep"

--------------------

Kiyone was the first to get up the following morning. She had a hard time sleeping, and decided to get up now and make herself a small snack rather then keep on trying to sleep. She walking into the living room, looking out through the windows over to the lake as the sunlight beamed down gently.

She made herself a small snack, and sat herself down in front of the television, turning it on to check the news.

"Good news for bounty heads out there" a reporter said from the screen, looking at its notes, it was difficult to tell if the reporter was male or female, mainly due to its bug-like appearance. "A well known bounty hunter has just announced she may be retiring from her lifestyle to get some well earned rest"

Kiyone watched, almost choking when an image of Nagi appeared on the screen.

"During her announcement, it was reported that the space pirate had made a lot of high-paying collections, which has gave her enough credit to live peacefully for a number of decades. She said she felt no need for protection, as the only person she considered a challenge has retired and disappeared somewhere deep into space"

"Good of her to keep Ryoko's location a secret" Kiyone thought, looking out over to the lake, before a knock on the front door got her attention. "Who's visiting this early in the morning?"

She got up, brushing some crumbs off her nightwear before getting up to open the door. "You do know what time it is don't yo-" she stopped herself mid-speech as a very familiar face stood before her.  
"Actually, I don't. That's the problem when you're jumping between dimensions, it doesn't drop you off at the exact same minute as the place you left"  
"When did you?" Kiyone stuttered, surprised that he was right there.  
"Just a minute ago, where else would I go in this dimension? Besides, I kind of missed you"  
"Really?"  
"Well, yeah. I missed everyone else of course, but well, I guess I missed you a little bit more"  
"Matt" Kiyone said quietly, before wrapping her arms around him for a big hug.

The pair stayed like that for a moment, stood there in each other's arms, before Matt decided to speak.  
"Think we could sit down? I haven't had many chances to relax while I was gone"

Kiyone nodded, letting him follow her into the living room. She turned off the TV as he sat down, before taking a seat next to him.  
"So" She said, a little anxiously, "Tell me about what happened"  
"Later, right now there's something I want to do" he replied, placing a hand on Kiyone's shoulder, leaning in to finally let their lips connect.

--------------------

Meanwhile, back in the depths of space, in the centre of Tokimi's realm, the figure of a man stood in the middle of the great hall where the battle between Washu and Ryoko had took place, where an orb containing Washu's energy once rested.

"Hmm, not as much left as I hoped" the figure said, its voice gruff, yet familiar. "But it will do, it gave me this body, and enough knowledge for me to take my revenge!"

The figure raised an arm in the air, creating an energy blade before disappearing into space, a chilling laugh being all that remained.

--------------------

Authors Corner – Well, that's it, this story is over. Will I do a sequel? Who knows, I'd like to work on my side series instead for the moment, but it's a matter of thinking what other series I could go into while 'Swapping Dimensions'

I've learnt a few things while doing this story. For one, its hard to write a character based on yourself that isn't a Mary-Sue (Or whatever the male equivalent is) when in life your kind of a blank page, seriously, until recently, I was the kind of guy who just seemed to blend into crowds and never really stood out.

I suppose another is that some fools get what they deserve (I'm sure other people had to deal with a spam-happy flame reviewer in the Tenchi section) although I'm sorry if that little section didn't work well, may have been better as an omake.

My idea of romance is still lacking though, so the whole Tenchi x Ryoko relationship could be hard for me to write.

Anyway, thank you for all those who have followed this story and reviewed it, I hope you follow me a little longer, for the day my next story starts.


End file.
